


Glimmer

by Coppergold_Mari



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, dark au, more TBA - Freeform, reverse!RWBY but not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:01:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22655944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coppergold_Mari/pseuds/Coppergold_Mari
Summary: Two decades ago, at the end of the Greater War, the Empress Salem took over Remnant. She rewarded those who aided her, gifting them titles, land, and power. As for those who stood against her...Well. Hunters exist for a reason.Now, years later, a group of young students seek to become Hunters, pledging their service to weed out the rebels. Among them are a privileged Atlesian heir, a vengeful Faunus girl, an adorably short sociopath, and a streetrat thief. All are at the Academy for different reasons, and all have secrets they'd rather not share. But as the rebels grow stronger and teams grow closer, these four will have to face one undeniable truth...No one close to you is really who they say they are.
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Weiss Schnee & Whitley Schnee, Whitley Schnee & Ilia Amitola
Comments: 26
Kudos: 42





	1. First Impressions

**_Prologue_ **

_Beacon Academy had fallen. The building, the tower, still stood, but the school was gone. Like so many other landmarks, it had been taken by Salem. No longer safe for anyone._

_Qrow picked his way through the overgrown paths, staring around at the place he had called home for four years. It didn’t look any different, but a strange heaviness was in the air, and Qrow had a feeling he should not be here._

_Here he was, though, and he wasn’t going back. He had to find Ozpin, had to fix this- all of this. Ozpin was their last chance. The last hope that, maybe, just maybe, things weren’t as bad as they seemed. So Qrow had come to the last place Ozpin had been seen. The place where the ward had ended._

_The place where the world had twisted and become something Qrow couldn’t even recognize anymore._

_He made his way to the center of the castle, the CCT tower. Here, he reasoned, Ozpin would most likely be._

_Later, he wished he hadn’t reasoned so well._

_Maybe then he could have gone back to the others, shrugging nonchalantly and saying, “Sorry. He must be somewhere else."_

_Maybe then someone else could have found Ozpin, and Qrow wouldn’t have had to bring him back._

_Maybe then Qrow wouldn’t have had to see his former mentor’s body crumpled like an old rag, lying at the foot of the tower. But see he did, and there he rushed, turning the man over as one word fell from his lips.  
_

_“No.”_

**Chapter One: First Introductions**

_Twenty Years Later_

Whitley Schnee stepped out of the airship and adjusted his sleeves, making sure each fold was in perfect shape. They would probably get messed up again in the long run, but it was worth it for now. He had to make sure to give his potential teammates the right image. It was like Father always said; first impressions were half of what made a good partnership. The other half was ensuring your partner _kept_ the correct view.

Whitley gazed up at the dark spires and arches that made up Twilight Academy. Other students were rushing busily about, most heading to the center of the building, where the headmistress was scheduled to make a speech soon. He looked around, but none of the people he had known at home were here. Unsurprising- most of his friends were enrolling at Schnee Academy in Atlas. It had been expected that Whitley would do the same, but he had decided to come to Twilight instead. His explanation to his father had been rather weak- something about not wanting to goto the school Father owned- but it was better than the truth.

In Atlas, everyone knew him. He would have been privileged at Schnee Academy, yes, but he would never be seen as anything other than “the headmaster’s son and heir to the Schnee Dust Company.” At Twilight, people would know _of_ him- his father was one of the most powerful people on Remnant, for goodness sake- but they wouldn’t know him. They wouldn’t expect so much of him. And while Whitley trusted his father, he found himself wanting somewhere where he could be different than his Atlas self.

He stepped forward and gestured to the servants, who picked up his bags and followed behind him at a respectable distance. They weren’t Faunus, of course- the Menagerie Agreement certified _that-_ simply lower-class citizens Father had managed to procure for him. Whitley wished Klein had been able to come along, but he was needed back at the manor.

“Oof!” Out of nowhere, a girl about an inch shorter than Whitley ran straight into him, mint-green hair flying behind her. Whitley reeled back, regaining his balance and grabbing the girl’s arm as she started to fall over.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” The girl gushed, standing up and shooting him an apologetic smile. Behind her, a taller boy with grey hair walked up and took in the scene with a smirk on his face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Whitley responded, turning to make sure his luggage wasn’t damaged. “But I’d appreciate it if you would look where you were going in the future. Oh, and give me back my wallet.”

The girl stared at him open mouthed, grey-haired boy behind her laughing his head off.

“Losing some skill there, huh Em?” he called. ‘Em’ glared at him.

“Mercury, if you don’t take that smirk off your face, I swear I will rip it off myself.” She stomped toward Mercury, throwing Whitley’s wallet over her shoulder. Whitley caught it, shaking his head in disbelief. That girl was an insanely talented thief. He probably wouldn’t even have noticed his wallet was gone if it weren’t for the alarm glyph on it.

He ran his hand over the pulsing red symbol on the side of the wallet, reversing it to its normal white color. Most of his belongings were stamped like this, with tiny glyphs that made the corresponding glyph on his sleeve light up. The light was barely visible, and left a lot of people wondering. The look on that girl’s face had definitely been worth it.

Having ascertained his things were all right, Whitley strode into Twilight Academy’s ceremony hall. Spotting the green-haired girl from before, he quickly moved to the other side of the room. No use agitating an already open wound- he had a feeling that girl wasn’t used to being caught, and if she was going to be on his team, he didn’t want to make an enemy of her.

“Ahem. Ahem.” The quiet coughing, aided by a microphone, was enough to quiet the crowd of students. On the stage was a woman with black hair and red-orange eyes that reminded Whitley of a flickering fire. Her gaze roved over the crowd, finally stopping on the green haired girl and her friend. She nodded once, then turned back to the general audience.  
_Huh. Wonder what that’s about._

“Hello, students. I am the Headmistress of Twilight Academy, Cinder Fall.” She sighed slightly. “You have traveled here today with dreams of greatness-- dreams that you will save your world, be a hero. You hope to make these dreams a reality here. But let me make one thing clear.” She turned a look- that was almost a glare- onto the audience. “I am not here to be your mother. I am not here to hold your hand through the scary parts. I am here to train you, to give you the skills you need to fight for your world and wipe out the rebels.” She shook her head. “I can offer you help. But only if you are strong enough to take it.”

Murmurs ran through the audience, each student wondering what to make of that speech. Headmistress Fall bent towards the microphone once more, to say simply, “Initiation is tomorrow. Your teams will be formed then. Until then, please make your way to the ballroom where you will be sleeping tonight.”

“ Well.” Whitley murmured. “That was… interesting.”

Someone next to him laughed. Whitley turned- and then had to lower his gaze eight inches to see an abnormally short girl with half-pink, half-brown hair and eyes to match.

“Really makes you feel like the staff here are going to be supportive.”

Whitley kept walking towards the ballroom Headmistress Fall had indicated. The girl walked alongside him, having to jog to keep up with his long strides.

“They aren’t really here to support us. They’re here to train us so we can protect the kingdoms.” Whitley replied.

The girl gave a small shrug. “I guess. But still. If I’m going to be here for four years, I’d like to have some kind of family for support.”

“Why?” Whitley asked. “Family shouldn't support you. Support holds you back from your full potential.” The words came out robotically, having been drilled into his brain many, many times.The girl gave him a weird look. “Who told you that?”

Whitley stared back cooly. “My father. And I’m not sure I like what your tone is insinuating.”

The girl shrugged again. “I wasn’t trying to insinuate anything. Your home life just seems very different from mine.” She spun suddenly, planting herself in the middle of the path and holding out a hand. “I’m Neopolitan, by the way."

Whitley took it, Neo surprising him with her strong shake. “Whitley Schnee.”

Neo smirked slightly. “I know.”

And she disappeared, leaving Whitley standing on the path with what he was sure was an odd look on his face. That was the second strange person he had met today, third if you counted that Mercury kid. For some reason, Whitley had a feeling he would meet many, many more.

* * *

  
Ilia walked into the ballroom and dumped her bag in the farthest corner, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder as she sank onto her sleeping mat. From here, she could see most of the other students , but they probably couldn’t see her, the lighting in the room being what it was. Just to be sure, Ilia turned her skin the same color as the shadows around her. It wasn’t that she was antisocial, just… Ilia sighed. She wished Blake was here. Blake would know what to do, what to say. She always did.  
But Blake was halfway across Remnant, helping Adam with whatever he did as king of Menagerie. And Ilia was here, sent to serve as a Huntress and flush out the rebels as her small piece of family was taken. What if she went back and Blake had fallen in love with Adam and forgotten about her? Ilia would have nothing. No home, no friends, no family…

_Deep breaths, Ilia. Deep breaths. Everything is okay. You are Ilia Amitola, and you are strong. Strong. You can do this. Don’t let your parents down._

Ilia opened her eyes and started unpacking her stuff, grabbing a t-shirt and pajama pants. She stood up and made her way over to the bathroom, stopping when she heard a loud thunk. She turned to see a little goat Faunus, who must have tripped somehow, her horns stuck in the wood paneling of the wall. A burly red headed guy was snickering at her a few feet away. Ilia let out a small hiss. She’d bet anything he was the one who tripped her. _Humans. Even after they make us a pact that they won’t discriminate against us or use us for unfair labor, they continue to do so._

Ilia stepped toward the guy, intent on giving him a piece of her mind- but before she could there, a boy with snowy-white hair and an immaculate vest strode in front of her. “Excuse me,” he said in a voice that was half _let’s have a polite conversation_ and half _I’m going to kill you in your sleep._ “I just saw what you did to that girl over there, and I would like to inquire as to why you would do such a thing.”

Ilia raised an eyebrow but didn’t interfere- she wanted to see where this would go. Instead, she crept over to the Faunus girl, who was still stuck in the wall.

“Here.” She whispered. Carefully, being sure not to jar the girl’s horns, she peeled away the wood surrounding the puncture marks. When she had loosened the wood enough, she nodded to the girl, who pulled her head out with little difficulty.  
“Thank you.” She said. Ilia smiled.

“No problem. Watch out for that guy, all right?” The girl gave her a thumbs-up and ran back to her mat. Ilia shook her head and turned her attention to the burly racist and the boy with white hair, who were still arguing.  
“I wasn’t trying to trip her!” Burly Racist announced. Ilia snorted softly. Like she believed _that._

The white-haired boy apparently agreed with her, because he raised an eyebrow and said “Sure.” Burly Racist looked like he was going to defend himself, but the boy kept talking. “Even if it really was an accident, why didn’t you help her? You look strong- you probably could have pulled her out of the wall straightaway. But you chose not to. You sat there and laughed. And _that_ is not acceptable.”

Burly Racist scowled. “Look, I’m telling you it was an accident! Who do you think you are, trying to lecture me?”

The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees. The boy folded his arms, looking at Burly Racist with such contempt it reminded Ilia of Adam. “Who am I? Who am _I?_ ” He hissed. “I am Whitley Schnee, heir to the SDC and half the kingdom of Atlas. Who are you?”

Ilia inhaled sharply. This boy was a _Schnee?_ This boy, who had defended a helpless Faunus, belonged to the family that had killed her parents? No way. No way. He had to be acting, trying to seem sympathetic to gain support. Well, it wasn’t going to work on her.

Vaguely, Ilia heard Burly Racist stumble through an apology, then turn around and crawl back to whatever hole he had come from. Vaguely, she felt triumphant that the jerk got told off. But most of her attention was focused on Schnee, watching him turn to the goat girl and make sure she was all right. How dare he act like he cared while his father’s company did such terrible things under the pretense of business? She wanted to march right over there and-

 _Breathe._ A voice that sounded strangely like Blake spoke in her head. _Calm down.  
_

_You can’t trust him._ A little Adam voice showed up. _Tell him off, but do it without revealing your background. He will use anything and everything against you.  
_

_Adam!_ The Blake voice spoke. _I’m trying to calm her down, not get her riled up! She’s not going to get anywhere if she’s picking fights on the first day! Just leave it, Ilia.  
_

_This is the guy that killed her family. It’s not ‘picking a fight,’ it’s getting justice!_ Adam again.

_Oh yeah, justice. Your favorite word. Look, all I’m saying is that that guy might be on her team. And need I remind you that we’re partners with the SDC? Salem’s orders. We definitely shouldn’t be antagonizing him._

“Ugh.” Ilia muttered. This little shoulder-angel-and-devil act was getting her nowhere. Although it was kinda nice to hear Blake talking back to Adam for once, even if it was just in her head. _Focus,_ she thought, thanking the brothers above the voices seemed to have disappeared. 

Ilia walked over to stand behind Schnee, waiting until he finished talking to the goat Faunus. He turned around, and Ilia relished the way he jumped back when he saw her. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were there.”

Ilia raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure. I saw what you did back there.”

Schnee cocked his head to the side. “You mean telling that rude guy not to laugh?”

“Precisely. Although I have to ask-  _ who  _ are you trying to fool?”

Schnee blinked. “Excuse me?”

“There’s no way you actually did that because you support Faunus rights.”

“I assure you, I do. No one should do things like that, especially after the Menagerie Agreement. It’s the law, for goodness sake!”

Now it was Ilia’s turn to blink in confusion. “I’m sorry. You don’t mean to tell me that you actually think the Menagerie Agreement  _ does  _ something?”

“Of course it does! It protects Faunus rights, stops people from using them as unpaid laborers…”

“Oh, it  _ says  _ all that stuff, sure. But think about it- have you ever seen someone arrested or fined for discrimination?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Exactly.” Ilia cut him off. “You haven’t seen that because it doesn’t happen!” She felt her skin turning red, saw Schnee’s eyes widen, but she didn’t care. “You can quote official documents all you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that people constantly take advantage of Faunus- people like  _ your father. _ ”

Schnee glared at her, taking a step closer. At this distance, it was easy to see that he had a good two inches on her. “ _ My father  _ is a good man. He doesn’t use Faunus laborers in any of his endeavors. I don’t know who you are or what you think you’re implying, but-”

“Who am I? Who am  _ I? _ ” Ilia gasped, doing a decent impression of Schnee’s voice. “Why, I’m Whitley Schnee! Heir to the most bigoted, racist company on Remnant!” She stepped forward, getting right up in his face. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you’re such an asshole. Like father, like son, after all.”

And with that, Ilia turned on her heel and walked back to her corner, sincerely hoping that her ponytail had hit Schnee on her way out.

* * *

Emerald sat up and yawned, stretching her arms above her head. Today was initiation- where she would find a team, and, for better or for worse, spend the next four years with them. When she had asked Cinder about the initiation, she had been vague- “You have to fight.” Cinder had said. “People. Or fake people, anyway.” 

Which didn’t really give Emerald any help at all. 

“Morning, Em.”

Mercury plopped down next to her, throwing one arm out so it hit Emerald in the face. 

“Morning, jerk.” She replied, Mercury snorting at her response. “You ready for initiation?” 

Mercury smirked. “I was born ready. I just hope I don’t get anyone terrible on my team. Like that rude redhead from last night. I wouldn’t mind that Schnee kid, though. The verbal beat down he gave that guy was amazing.”

Emerald shrugged. “I guess. Although I think I preferred the verbal beat down he  _ got _ . That girl with the ponytail is badass.”

Mercury laughed. “Aw, you’re still sore from him catching you pickpocketing yesterday.”

Emerald huffed. “I am  _ not!  _ I would, however, like to know how he did that and then disable it so I can steal  _ all  _ his stuff.”

“Whatever, nerd. I just hope  _ you’re  _ not on my team. I don’t need more babysitting.”

Emerald hit him over the head. “Please. I would grace any team I was on with my amazing skills.” And she plowed ahead, feelings about the initiation much less confusion and much more confidence.

She would go into that initiation and take on whatever it had to throw at her. 

_ Or maybe not _ , Emerald thought. In her mental list of things she might be faced with in initiation, she had not contemplated being catapulted off a cliff. But here she was, flying through the air over the forest. Through the greenery about a half-mile away, she glimpsed a dark building that was probably the warehouse Cinder had described in her runthrough. What had she said? 

“Somewhere in this forest is a warehouse. For these exercise purposes, the warehouse is populated by human look-alikes who will stand in for rebels. You will make your way to the warehouse and find a scroll, bringing it back here as proof you have completed your mission. Only one scroll per partnership, please.”

At which point someone had raised their hand to ask how the partnerships were formed. Emerald almost felt bad for the poor kid, being pinned with the full force of Cinder’s glare as she said “I’m  _ getting there _ .” 

Although her explanation made Emerald want to raise  _ her _ hand and ask a question. They would find their partners by making  _ eye contact? _ That was… well, insane. And random, and would probably not end well in any case. But all she could do was do her best to stay away from anyone she didn’t want to be partners with, and make her way to the warehouse. Everyone else would be heading there anyway.

* * *

Neo hooked the handle of her umbrella around a tree branch and landed neatly near the trunk, only a few feet from the ground. She leapt down, leaves under her feet barely crunching. Which way had the building been again? Right, north. 

She could see the warehouse before she came upon anyone else. Neo ducked behind a bush when she heard a rustling, watching in disbelief as a human-like figure came staggering out of the structure. It was pitch-black, with skin that looked like tar. Across its chest, white letters proudly displayed the word REBEL. Neo assumed this was the rebel hideout she was supposed to enter to get the scroll. 

She stepped out of the bushes and swung at the thing, trying to see how hard it was to kill. It turned at the last moment, grabbing the bottom of her umbrella in a surprisingly strong grip. Neo let a smirk twist her lips up and deployed the blade inside Hush. It skewered nearly through the creature’s body, crumbling it to ash. Neo grinned-and then heard the thumping behind her. She whirled around, trying to bat the thing away- then watched as a bullet hit its head and it evaporated. 

Neo looked up to see a girl about seven inches taller than her, mint-green hair slightly disheveled from the drop. Their eyes met. 

“Well,” the girl said. “At least you’re not Mercury.”

* * *

Mercury flipped and landed on a tree branch, searching the sky for any other students. Most seemed to have landed already- he could see Emerald to the west, and behind her, Schnee. In the north, a pair of black-haired twins twisted in a controlled fall to face each other. So they were out, and Schnee was probably too far away for Mercury to make it to him before he found another partner. Mercury sighed, jumping to the lowest branch before leaping onto the ground. Or what he thought was the ground, anyway. 

“Ow!” Turned out he had landed on someone else- someone armored. Mercury looked down into the eyes of the last person he wanted to see.

* * *

Whitley hurtled toward the forest, scanning the greenery to find a good place to land. There. A clearing surrounded by trees. He held his hand out, palm upwards, and a spinning white glyph appeared on the grass in the clearing. He closed his fist, and a matching glyph appeared right below his feet. Whitley landed on it, the world spun for a moment, and he was standing in the clearing. He concentrated for a moment, shutting the glyphs off. It took a fair amount of energy, but Whitley didn’t want to know what would happen if he just left the glyphs where they were. And he had Aura for energy anyway.

Whitley turned, hand on his gun as he heard a soft whisper of leaves. Carefully, he pulled his gun and set it, aiming straight at whatever was in the bushes. With a loud crack, the bullet released itself and shot towards the figure. It yelped, ducking and rolling out of the greenery. 

“Hey! What was that for?”

The girl looked up, meeting Whitley’s eyes as both realized who the other was. 

“Oh no.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! Just a few quick notes/major canon changes: 
> 
> All the Twilight students are 17, just because it makes my life easier.
> 
> And Neo can talk! This is mainly based on a personal headcanon of mine- Neo's had trauma at a young age that rendered her mute. But since in this universe, that trauma didn't happen, she can talk. (Again, pretty much just me being lazy.)


	2. New Friends...

**Chapter Two: New Friends...**

“Can you move _any_ faster?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. We don’t all have amazing speed and agility!”

“I’m not asking that you ascend to _my_ level, just that you walk _without_ tripping every five seconds, Schnee. Considering that we’re trying to steal something, it might be nice if we didn’t sound like a herd of Goliaths.”

Whitley rolled his eyes. “We don’t even know where we are. You _might_ want to figure that out before chastising me. How loud we are doesn’t matter if we’re on the other side of the forest from anything that could hear us.”

“How loud _you_ are, you mean.” His partner, who had grudgingly introduced herself as Ilia, muttered. “And if you’re so worried about us getting lost, why don’t you just use that fancy Semblance of yours to teleport us there?”

Whitley let out an annoyed huff. “Because that’s not how that _works._ I have to see where I’m trying to go in order to correctly place a transport glyph.” 

“Fine.” Suddenly, Ilia grabbed his wrist, jumping straight up into the air and landing neatly at the top of a tree. Whitley jerked his hand away, brushing off any invisible dirt that might have gotten on him during that less-than-dignified ascent and shooting her a dirty look. Ilia just smirked. 

“There,” She said, pointing to a black shape about a mile away. “That’s the warehouse. Now can you magic us over there or am I going to have to listen to your tromping for another hour?” 

Whitley glared at her, then closed his eyes and concentrated. Hand out and palm upwards, he could feel a gleaming white glyph burst to life on the warehouse roof. Clenching his fist, another appeared about halfway to the ground.

“Okay.” He said, opening his eyes to find a dubious Ilia looking at him. 

“Hate to break it to you, Schnee, but we’re still in the same place.”

It was Whitley’s turn to grab her wrist, propelling them both out of the tree and towards his glyph. Thirty seconds and a blurry world spin later, Whitley stood on the roof of the warehouse, Ilia fallen next to him. She pulled herself up. 

“You know, _next_ time it’d be really great if you would, say, _tell_ me you were going to do that.”

Whitley shrugged. “Consider that payback for jumping me into a tree with no prior warning.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re so incompetent you couldn’t find a way to see the warehouse before!”

“And it’s not my fault you’re such an idiot you didn’t realize the transport glyph was below the tree.”

Ilia hissed at him. She looked like she was about to respond when a green blur shot between them, resolving into the shape of the girl who had tried to steal Whitley’s wallet the day before. 

“Hey, lovebirds, if you two could stop arguing and help us out down there, it would be much appreciated.”

Both Ilia and Whitley scowled at her. “Who are you?” Whitley asked. 

The girl stuck out a hand. “Emerald Sustrai.” 

“I’d say it’s nice to meet you,” Whitley sighed, “but we’ve already met.” Ilia raised an eyebrow. 

“You have?’’

“She tried to steal my wallet.” Whitley huffed. Emerald grinned unapologetically. 

“I knew I liked you.” Ilia cackled. Then her face became serious. “How long have you been here?”

Emerald shrugged. “Only about ten minutes. My partner, Neo- you might know her? Pink-brown hair, eyes to match?”

“Oh, yeah. I ran into her after the headmistress’s speech. She’s… interesting.” Whitley said. 

Emerald snorted. “That’s one way to put it. Anyway, she and I killed a few rebels on patrol outside, which _apparently_ set off some sort of alarm. They started mobbing us- and while they’re not hard to kill, there’s enough to effectively block us from the doors.” 

Whitley frowned. “If there are that many, should we be worried about Neo?”

The thief laughed. “I think she’d be fine on her own. But we _do_ have some friends. Here, come see.”

She led them over to the roof’s edge, where they could see a horde of dark figures bearing down on Neo. Beside her, cutting huge swaths of rebels into dust, were two black-haired girls. One slashed a creature across the chest, sending it stumbling back only for the other to spin and kick it. Whitley saw a flash of silver at the girl’s heels- did her shoes have _knives_ on the bottom?- and the rebel collapsed into dust. 

“Melanie and Miltia Malachite.” Emerald intoned. “I’d be lying if I said I knew which was which. They are, however, exceptional fighters.”

Ilia cocked her head to the side. “They’d have to be, to get into Twilight. Unless they just bought their way in, like _some_ people I could name.” Ignoring Whitley’s insulted growl, she offered her hand to Emerald. “Shall we?” 

Emerald took it. “We shall.”

Ilia turned around and smirked at Whitley. 

“Just stay out of the way, Schnee. The grownups will handle this.”

And with that, she threw herself and Emerald off the roof. 

“I’m the same age as you!” Whitley shouted. “Ugh, whatever,” he mumbled, jumping down to join the others. Pulling his gun and shooting a rebel, he exchanged a quick nod with Neo and leapt into the fray. 

_Dodge, load, shoot, repeat. Use glyphs where you can. And never, ever get distracted._

His father’s voice rang in his head, though the actual quote was not from him. It had been uttered by one of Whitley’s many personal trainers, hired to teach him the proper Atlas fighting technique. Whitley couldn’t remember his name- they all just blended together after a while. 

“Snipers!” One of the Malachite twins shouted, the group of students retreating a few feet as bullets rained down. 

“How are we going to get inside?” Emerald yelled. 

Ilia frowned, tucking some sort of weird whip thing behind her back. “I don’t know. We need to block those shots or else get in another way. Are there any other entrances?”

Neo shook her head “Melanie did a perimeter check earlier. This is the only way in.”

“Ugh.” 

“I can stop the snipers.” Whitley offered. Everyone turned to stare at him. 

“Really?” Emerald asked. Whitley nodded. 

“I just need a distraction.”

“Distraction?” Someone said behind him. Whitley turned to see grey-haired Mercury appear out of the bushes, followed by the rude guy that had been laughing at the Faunus yesterday. Mercury shot them all a confident smirk. “I gotta say, distractions are pretty much my forte.”

“Merc…” Emerald said. “Where did you come from?” 

“And why is Burly Racist with you?” Ilia asked. The redhead wrinkled his nose. 

“Burly Racist? Why is that my nickname?”

“Well, let’s break it down. You’re burly...” 

“And you’re racist.” Whitley finished. “As I believe we established last night?”

“And as _I_ believe we established last night, _you’re_ not really in a position to be calling other people racist.” Ilia shot back.

Whitley threw his hands in the air. “This isn’t about me!”

“Seems like it _should_ be, since you’re somehow so ignorant you don’t realize what your father has done!”

“My father is a _good man!_ ” 

“Okay!” Mercury shouted. “Guys, this is Cardin. He’s my partner.” _For better or for worse,_ his tone seemed to add. “And in order to not fail this initiation, we need a scroll. Which means we need to get into that warehouse. Which means we need to stop the bullets. Which means it is _not the time_ to unpack-” he gestured toward Whitley and Ilia- “whatever that is.” 

“Whitley,” Neo supplied. “You were saying about a distraction?”

“Oh, yeah,” Whitley said, moving a few steps away from Ilia. “I need something that’ll let me grab one of those things. Once I have that, I can destroy the rest.” 

“A distraction, huh?” Emerald grinned, casting a look at Neo and Mercury. “I think we can do that.” 

* * *

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Ilia muttered, crouching down beside Emerald and Schnee. They were currently situated behind a large shrub, the only thing hiding them from the rebel snipers. Across the clearing, Ilia could just catch the glint of Burly Rascist’s armor, where he sat with Neo and the Malachite twins. “Are we even sure this will work?”

“Of course it’ll work! And besides, it’ll be fun!” Mercury grinned, dropping down beside Emerald. 

“ _Fun_ is not the point of this academy. We’re here to _fight._ ” Schnee said.

Honestly, Ilia agreed with him- this seemed far too over-the-top to get them through initiation. She shuddered. _Okay, new life plan: never agree with Whitley Schnee again._

“Whatever. Anyway, the group over there is ready.” Mercury reported. “Just waiting for the signal.”

“Uh- what’s the signal?” Emerald asked.

Mercury shrugged. “When you turn them all into creepy monsters, I guess.”

Emerald sighed. “That is not _remotely_ how that works. Besides, they won’t see themselves any differently. I’m making the _snipers_ see the illusion, not them.”

Mercury rolled his eyes. “Then I guess I’ll just…give them a thumbs up. Tell me when you’re ready.” 

“Just a sec.” Emerald said, eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration. “It’s hard to get a grip on these guys’ minds.”

“Anything I can do?” Ilia asked. Schnee smirked at her. 

“Just stay out of the way. The grownups will handle this.”

Ilia scowled but was cut off from replying when Emerald’s red eyes snapped open. 

“Go!”

Immediately, Schnee took off, dodging the airborne weapons as he summoned one of those symbols and teleported to the warehouse roof. He grabbed the arm on a rebel, pulling it down onto the grass as he landed in a crouch. The creature lying on the ground, he put his hand on its chest, opening and closing his fist as a white symbol appeared on its heart. What had he called those? _Glyphs_. 

Schnee held his other hand out, doing the same open-close routine. Suddenly, all the snipers had glyphs right over their heart. Schnee drew his gun and shot the rebel in the chest, it, as well as all of the other snipers, crumbling to dust. 

“Come on!” Schnee shouted. “That won’t hold them forever. It only works on the ones I can see!”

Mercury took off, heading into the warehouse as Cardin, Neo and the Malachite twins followed. Ilia nudged Emerald’s shoulder. 

“We have to go. Let the illusion down.”

Emerald let out a shaky breath and stood up, leaning slightly on Ilia as they ran towards the building.

“You okay?” Ilia asked.

“I’ll be fine. Just need a minute to recharge. Manipulating multiple minds is… hard.”

“Well, I’m here if you need me.” 

“Me too.” Ilia hadn’t even noticed that they were approaching Schnee until he was standing right in front of them. She glared at him, but he just put his shoulder under Emerald’s other arm, helping to support her. 

Emerald smiled slightly, turning her head to look at Schnee. 

“How did you do that? With the arrows?”

Ilia tried to pretend she wasn’t listening. 

Schnee shrugged. “Manipulation glyph. It works a bit like voodoo- I have one thing that’s similar to another, called a control, and I can influence all of those things.”

“How many different kinds of glyphs are there?”

The words spilled out before Ilia could stop them, before she could remind herself that this boy was the enemy and she didn’t care how his Semblance worked. Schnee gave her a surprised look. 

“Well, I’m not entirely sure. Glyphs are a family Semblance, but everyone’s work in a different way. My mother’s glyphs can attach to things and draw them toward her- like my manipulation glyphs, but without needing a control. My grandfather Nicholas Schnee, the founder of the SDC, could summon things from anywhere in the world, as well as transporting himself places without needing to see them. And my sis-”

He cut himself off abruptly, as if remembering that he shouldn’t have said something. Ilia wondered what- she would have thought it was ‘sister,’ but that was absurd; surely she would know if the heir to the company that had killed her parents had a _sister_.

“And I have transport, tracker, alarm, and manipulation glyphs, among other things.” Schnee finished lamely. “Does that answer your question?”

Ilia peered at him. “Vaguely.” She wanted to question him about his slip-up, but they were almost to the warehouse, so the interrogation would have to wait.

* * *

Neo stepped into the dark building, umbrella opened in front of her until her eyes adjusted to the gloom. Gazing around, the warehouse appeared to be mostly boxes and dust, with a few empty ammo packets littering the floor. By all accounts, it seemed empty- dank and kinda gross, but empty. Safe. 

Neo didn’t trust it. 

“See anything?” Melanie called, ducking into the doorway with her twin. Her white dress seemed to glow in the darkness, and Miltia’s red one wasn’t much better. Neo understood that their job didn’t really require stealth- as the daughters of Vale’s biggest crime lord, they could pretty much get whatever they wanted without having to steal it. But she wished the Malachites could be a _little_ less conspicuous.

“Nope,” Neo responded. “Seems abandoned.”

Miltia raised an eyebrow. “Then it’s probably not, right?”

Neo laughed. “It’s _definitely_ not. They’re just waiting for us to come further inside.”

“Then let’s go.” Emerald’s voice came from outside, the Malachite twins stepping aside to allow her in. Neo rushed forward, supporting her as Whitley and Ilia dropped their arms on either side. Emerald gave her a small smile. 

“Guys, I’m fine. Really. I needed to regain my energy, but I’m good now.”

Neo shrugged. “Okay.” She let Emerald go, scanning the area once again as Cardin and Mercury entered. 

“So what now?” Cardin asked, his voice echoing around the room. Ilia glared at him.

“Why don’t _you_ shut up?”

Cardin scowled. “Let’s just go find those scrolls.” 

Which wasn’t easy, Neo soon discovered. Their little group traveled what seemed like miles (but was probably just feet), taking out rebels until they reached what appeared to be the center of the warehouse. A scarred wooden table sat there, some sort of metal box upon it.

“Think the scrolls are in that box?” Mercury asked as they all gathered around it.

“No, Merc.” Emerald deadpanned. “They’re definitely _not_ in the box that literally says ‘scrolls’ on it.”

Mercury shrugged. “Hey, you never know. It could be a trick.”

“Maybe,” Melanie suggested, “We could _open_ the box and see what’s in it?”

Whitley picked it up, fiddling with the clasp before throwing the lid open. He held up a white rectangle, the yellow diamond in the middle seeming to taunt them. 

“Scrolls?”

“Scrolls,” Neo confirmed. 

Ilia shook her head. “You know, when Headmistress Fall said we had to get a Scroll, I was thinking the paper kind.”

Whitley shrugged. “And yet…” He opened the Scroll he was holding, turning it so the others could see the blank screen. “There’s nothing on it, so I guess… Ilia and I will take this one.”

Mercury grabbed the box, reaching in and retrieving his own Scroll. 

“Cool, ours is black!”

“Wonder what that means,” Emerald said, flipping her white Scroll from hand to hand as the Malachite twins claimed the other black one.

“Uh, probably that we’re better than you.” Mercury smirked. Emerald rolled her eyes. 

“You wish.”

Whitley took the box back from Mercury, setting it on the table as he said, “We should probably get going. Somehow I doubt us taking these things has gone unnoticed.”

As if on cue, dozens of the pitch-black humanoids appeared from nowhere, surrounding the students. Though something about them seemed… different.

“Did they all get larger or am I just short?” Neo asked.

“You _are_ short, but they did get larger.” Emerald replied. She shot one in the chest, but it didn’t die- she shot it twice more, and _then_ it crumbled. “They also apparently got better life insurance.” 

Neo snorted, stabbing her umbrella’s blade into the gut of the rebel standing in front of her. All around her, the others were doing the same- creature after creature poofed into dust, only to be replaced with more. 

“Oh look, they have armor now.” Mercury said sarcastically. “Yay.”

“Scatter!” Whitley shouted. “Mercury, Cardin, Melanie, Miltia- go north and try to clear a path through the warehouse. We’ll finish here and meet you outside.”

Mercury looked slightly miffed at being given orders, but nodded and took off with his partner and the Malachite twins. Neo focused on the fight, looking for chinks in the rebel’s armor.

“This feels like a video game,” Neo said as another wave of rebels was reduced to ash. Whitley tilted his head. 

“What?” 

“This feels like a video game!” Neo shouted. “They keep getting stronger- I wouldn’t be surprised if a giant showed up right now for our final boss fight.” 

They stood there for a minute, all waiting for the sounds of more opponents. “Or not,” Emerald said. “Guess we’ve already earned our level-up.”

* * *

Emerald exhaled as she followed the rest of the students into the lecture hall. Initiation had been exhausting, but it hadn’t gone that badly- they had taken out a lot of rebels, and retrieved the Scrolls. And her partner was pretty cool.

But Emerald was still a bit nervous. Cinder had called them to the lecture hall to, presumably, form their teams. And while Neo was good to have on her team, she wouldn’t make much difference if the other members were Mercury and Cardin. The Malachite twins weren’t bad, though. And Whitley and Ilia… while both were fantastic fighters and seemed nice overall, Emerald wasn’t sure if she could handle their constant arguing. But she supposed all she could do was see. 

Cinder took the stage. “I have limited time, so I’ll make this brief. Mercury Black, Melanie Malachite, Miltia Malachite, and Cardin Winchester.” She gestured for them to come onto the stage. “You all chose the black Scroll. So from this day on, you will be known as team MMMC (Mech). Your team leader is Mercury Black.”

 _So that means…_ Emerald thought, glancing around at the remaining students offstage. Onstage, Cinder kept taking. “Whitley Schnee, Ilia Amitola, Neopolitan, and Emerald Sustrai. By choosing the white Scroll, you are now team WINE. Led by Whitley Schnee.” 

Emerald snuck a glance at Whitley, who looked utterly surprised but was trying to hide it. Cinder handed him a piece of paper. “Here’s your dorm number and class schedule.” Whitley nodded, and the newly christened team WINE left the stage. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that Whitley's first name and Mercury's last name directly correspond to the colors of their team Scrolls... oops.  
> Thanks to everyone who left kudos and commented!


	3. And New Enemies

**Chapter Three: And New Enemies**

Whitley opened the door of room 235, stepping aside to let his new teammates enter. He knew he shouldn’t be so surprised he was team leader- Father was always saying that Schnees were natural leaders. But it all seemed so surreal. 

He stepped into the simple room, which housed only four beds, each with a small bedside table, a bookshelf, and two desks. Neo, Emerald, and Ilia had already claimed three of the beds, so Whitley dumped his stuff on the last one and started unpacking. Neo raised her head off her pillow.

“What are you doing?”

“Unpacking?” Whitley replied. 

“Shouldn’t we talk first? About decorating, I mean.”

Emerald gave them an odd look. 

“You guys brought  _ decorations? _ ”

“Of course,” Whitley said, pulling a framed photo out of his bag. It portrayed Whitley and his father in front of Schnee Academy- Father had had it taken after Whitley announced he would be going to Twilight. “See?”

“Oh no,” Ilia said, turning to glare at the picture like it was the cause of all the world’s problems. “I will  _ not  _ have a picture of  _ Jacques Schnee  _ in my dorm room. Get that out of here or I will tear it in half myself.”

“It’s not going anywhere! It’s my  _ family! _ ” Whitley growled. 

“You have a mother, don’t you? Display a picture of  _ her  _ instead.”

Whitley sucked in a small breath at the mention of his mother. “I-I don’t have a picture.” He stuttered, trying to sound normal. It obviously didn’t work, because Ilia gave him a confused look and rolled her eyes. 

“Nevertheless, I refuse to have  _ any  _ reference to that bigot in my room. You’re bad enough.”

Whitley looked her straight in the eyes, picking up the picture and reaching over to his bedside table. Still holding her gaze, he placed the picture on the top. Ilia hissed. 

“O- _ kay.”  _ Emerald said, standing up and stretching. “I don’t have any decorations or whatever, but if you guys do, I think we should all put up what we want. Unless it’s, like, disrespectful of someone on the team.”

“ _ That  _ is disrespectful!” Ilia pointed at the picture. 

“Is it referring to you in any way?” Emerald asked. When Ilia shook her head, she continued, “Then it’s fine.”

Ilia huffed. “Fine.” Pulling her bag onto her lap, she unpacked some sort of photo book and set it on her table, then pulling out a bunch of books she put on the bookshelf. Neo raised her head from her own unpacking. 

“Big reader?” She asked. Ilia shook her head. 

“Not really. These are from a… friend. She’s always saying I should read more.”

Neo nodded. “She sounds cool.” 

Ilia smiled softly. “She is.”

“Soo…” Neo said a few minutes later, “Anyone want to talk about why our team name is WINE?”

Whitley shrugged. “I mean, can you think of a better anagram for the letters W, I, N, and E? There aren’t a lot of options.” 

“I guess. But wine? Is that supposed to mean something?”

Emerald spoke, having already deposited her meager belongings under her bed. “I heard that the team names used to be colors, before Salem took over and everything got better. Now the names represent something the team leader fears, to help them conquer that weakness.”

Ilia laughed. “So our  _ illustrious  _ leader is afraid of  _ wine _ ?”

Whitley glared at her. “No!”

“Something you’d like to share with the class, Schnee?” She asked. Whitley glared at her.

“I have a slight aversion to alcohol,” he said finally. “It’s not anything serious. I’m not sure why Headmistress Fall decided to point it out.”  _ Or how she even knows about my mother.  _

Ilia looked at him for a long second before Neo changed the subject.

“Does that mean Mercury has some problem with, like, mechanics?”

Whitley shrugged, glad the pressure was off him. “I don’t know.”

“Ask the girlfriend,” Ilia said, gesturing towards Emerald. The green-haired girl stared at her. 

“Um,  _ no. _ We are  _ not  _ dating. He’s the most annoying person ever.”

“Kinda cute though,” Neo said. At Emerald’s incredulous look, she tried to defend herself. “He is! Back me up here, Ilia!”

“I wouldn’t know.” Ilia replied, falling back into her mattress. “He’s not a girl.”

Whitley couldn’t stop a sharp gasp from escaping him. “You’re… gay?”

Ilia glared at him, the look in her eyes making Whitley think other people hadn’t taken this revelation well. “I am. Is that going to be a problem?”

Whitley shook his head. “No. I’m just… not used to people being so open about that.”

Ilia laughed humorlessly. “That’s ‘cause you’re from Atlas, the straightest kingdom in all of Remnant. Pretty sure that any gay Atlesians would be disowned.”

“That’s not true!” Whitley protested. Ilia snorted. 

“Sure it’s not.” She turned, grabbing some clothes and looking around the room. “I’m… going to go change in the bathroom.” 

Whitley nodded, faint blush on his cheeks as he stepped aside and sat on his bed.

“Classes start tomorrow at nine,” he said. Neo cocked her head to the side. 

“What do you think they’ll be like?”

“I guess we’ll see.” 

* * *

Neo stepped into the hallway, waiting for the rest of her team as she adjusted her jacket. This uniform, despite being an extra-small, was slightly too big for her, and Neo had a feeling she’d be messing with it a lot. 

A few feet away, team MMMC’s door opened and Miltia came out. 

“Hey, Mil.” Neo said. The black-haired girl nodded at her, looking at the door labeled 236 across the hall from team WINE’s.

“Who’s this for?” She asked. Neo shrugged. 

“I don’t know. I think it’s empty.”

“Huh.”

“Maybe it’s for the festival guests?” Neo offered. “They should be arriving at the end of the semester.”

Miltia nodded again, whatever response she may have had cut off by the rest of her team approaching. 

“See you later!” Neo shouted, turning back to her door. Raised voices were coming from inside- Neo was about to open the door when Emerald slipped out, looking slightly frazzled.

“They’re fighting. Again.” She said. 

“What is it this time?” Neo asked as they started to walk away from the door. Emerald rolled her eyes. 

“Ilia moved Whitley’s family picture so she couldn’t see it, but now he can’t see it either.”

“Ah. That’s… fun.”

“Yup,” Emerald sighed. “How on Remnant are we going to live with this for four years?”

“I have no idea.” Neo responded as they stepped into their history classroom. It was built a bit like an amphitheater, rows of seats rising above the circular platform where a familiar red-haired man stood. Neo stopped short. 

“Dad?” She asked, the man turning to face her with a slight smirk. “What are you doing here?”

Roman grinned. “What, a man can’t visit his daughter at her new school?” He spread his arms as if expecting a hug, but Neo just raised an eyebrow- she was not a four-year-old, thank you very much. 

“Haha. Actually  _ what  _ are you here for?”

Roman shrugged. “Cinder was short a teacher, so I got roped into helping. Not that I ever mind helping Cinder.” He added with a look in his eyes that Neo recognized. 

Behind her, Emerald made a small snorting noise. “Trust me,” She said, looking Roman up and down, “Cinder’s not interested.”

Roman chuckled. “Oh, I like you. This one of your teammates, Neo?” 

Neo nodded. “My partner, actually. Dad, this is Emerald Sustrai- Emerald, this is my dad, Roman Torchwick.”

Emerald tilted her head. “You’re our history professor?”

“And your explosives professor, which I must say is more my style than history. I wanted to oversee sparring instead, but someone else is teaching that. I think his name was Perry?”

“Um, okay. Listen, we’re going to sit down now before class starts.” Neo said, dragging Emerald to a pair of seats in the top row. “I can’t believe he’s our professor.” She groaned.

“Why? He seems okay. I mean, he’s kind of annoying, and he’s hitting on someone way out of his league, but he seems pretty cool.”

“He  _ is  _ cool, but he’s also my dad! And he’s probably not going to keep that on the down low. It’s just going to be awkward.”

“What’s awkward?” Ilia asked, dropping down beside Emerald. Neo sighed. 

“My dad’s the teacher.” 

“Why is that so bad?” Whitley slid into the seat on Neo’s other side, shooting Ilia a dirty look. “ _ My _ father owns an entire academy.”

“But you don’t go to school there.” Neo pointed out. 

“Yes, why  _ don’t  _ you?” Ilia asked, leaning over Emerald. “If Daddy Dearest is as fantastic as you say, why didn’t you enroll in Schnee Academy? I’m sure you could have done whatever you wanted _ there _ .”

“Maybe I should have.” Whitley hissed. “Then at least I wouldn’t have to be near  _ you. _ ”

Ilia glared at him, forcing Neo and Emerald to lean back so they wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire. 

“Here we go again,” Neo muttered. 

“Hello, students!” Roman all-but-shouted, his voice rebounding through the room. Neo winced. “I’m Professor Torchwick, and I’ll be your history and explosives teacher for the majority of this year, since the previous teacher decided to have a child.” 

The class stared at him, not sure what to make of this man. Roman didn’t seem to notice. “Anyway,” he said, clapping his hands, “who can tell me about the Greater War?”

Next to Neo, Whitley raised his hand. “The Greater War came after the Great War and was much bigger, hence the name. It started when the Empress Salem raised an army to overthrow the previous cruel government. Enlisting the aid of the White Fang, a Faunus splinter group who performed violent acts in retaliation for the harm humans had caused them, she managed to take over and make Remnant what it is today.” 

Roman nodded. “All right. A little optimistic about our current government, and a bit too much glossing over on the actual war, but yes. Pretty much.”

Ilia’s hand shot into the air. “Actually,” She said, shooting a look at Whitley, “the White Fang fought for  _ equality.  _ Any and all violence they enacted was for that cause.  _ Humans  _ like to think of them as a terrorist group so they don’t feel guilty about discriminating against us.”

Roman raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. I take it you don’t believe the Menagerie Agreement is useful?”

“With all due respect, Professor, it does nothing but make humans feel better about themselves. It’s something they can hide behind while they continue to use us for unfair labor- especially in the Dust mines.”

“The Dust mines are perfectly safe!” Whitley objected. 

“No they’re not. Faunus are constantly being put in the  _ least  _ safe conditions because the higher-ups don’t see them as people.”

“My father believes in human-Faunus equality!”

“That may be the  _ least  _ true thing I have ever heard.”

As Whitley and Ilia devolved into another shouting match, Neo looked at Emerald. 

“This is never going to end, is it.”

* * *

“Nope,” Emerald said to Neo as Mercury dropped into the seat beside Emerald. A few feet away, the Malachite twins sat down on the bench next to Neo. There were about five of these benches, all in circular rows facing the central ring. Weirdly, Emerald and Neo had placed themselves on the opposite side of the room from Whitley and Ilia- although, Mercury thought as he watched the two scream at each other, maybe that wasn’t a bad decision.

“Hey,” He said, nodding at Emerald. “What’s up?”

“Not much. Whitley and Ilia are fighting again, but,” she shrugged. “It’s otherwise fine. How’re you?”

“All right. Being the team leader is fun, you know? Oh wait. I forgot. You’re the  _ last  _ person on your team.” He broke into laughter as Emerald smacked him in the head. 

“Jerk.” she said. Mercury grinned. 

“Yup. In all seriousness, though, it’s not going too badly. Melanie and Miltia are awesome-”

“Dang right we are,” Melanie called over Neo. 

“And Cardin is… a person.” Mercury continued. Emerald raised an eyebrow. 

“That bad?”

“Well, let’s see.” Mercury said. “In the past three days since our teams were formed, he’s made  _ at least _ seven racist comments about Faunus, shoved a kid into one of those flying lockers, and gotten into three fistfights, two of which he lost.”

“Then,” Melanie added, “when we tried to help him out in a fight, he yelled at us. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not exactly a ‘everyone should be happy and nice’ person. But this all seems a bit excessive.”

Miltia nodded. “It’s like he’s  _ trying  _ to make people dislike him.”

“Well, maybe he is,” Emerald suggested. “Maybe he has a bad home situation and believes that no one can like him.”

Neo and the Malachite twins stared at her. Mercury sighed. 

“She thinks she’s a therapist. I keep telling you, Em, just because your Semblance lets you manipulate people’s minds doesn’t mean you  _ understand  _ their minds.”

“Actually,” Melanie offered, “Her explanation sorta makes sense.”

“ _ Thank  _ you!” Emerald shouted. “I told you I get people!”

“No, you’d be a terrible therapist,” Melanie said bluntly. “But what you said sounds likely. Abusers are often abused themselves- that’s just life. We should try talking to him.”

Mercury blinked. “Talking to him?”

“If we help him understand that there are people who can support him here, he might be lifted out of his bullying tendencies.”

Mercury stared at her. “What?”

Melanie shrugged. “I read a lot of self-help books.”

“Okay,” Mercury summarized, “so we should go and talk to Cardin and politely ask him to stop being a jerk? That’s not usually my style.”

“What is your style?” Miltia asked. 

“Kicking people until they shut up and leave me alone,” Mercury answered. Neo sighed. 

“Let’s  _ not  _ do that.”

“As much as we may want to,” Melanie added. 

Mercury sighed. “ _ Fine. _ ”

* * *

Melanie blew her bangs out of her face and looked at her sister, who was laying on the bed directly across from hers. 

“When is he going to get here? I’m hungry.” She groaned.

“Yeah, why did we choose to talk to him before dinner? I feel like everyone’s more irritable when they haven’t eaten.” Mercury responded, leaning on his elbows as he played a game on his Scroll. This was his own, not the one they had gotten in initiation- those were kept in a drawer in Miltia’s desk. As far as Melanie could tell, they were completely normal- no contacts, no information, just two black Scrolls no one used. It was weird, to be sure, but what at this school wasn’t?

“There’s no need to worry about that now,” Miltia said. “At this point, Cardin’s eaten already.”

“I was talking about  _ us _ .” Mercury said. “We all know Cardin is going to be grumpy no matter what.”

“Speak of the devil,” Melanie muttered as the door opened and Cardin came into the room. He raised an eyebrow. 

“Why weren’t you guys at dinner?”

“We want to talk to you,” Melanie said. She and Miltia dropped onto Mercury’s bed, facing Cardin. She elbowed Mercury. 

“Talk to him,” she hissed.

He glared at her, elbowing back before turning to Cardin. 

“Cardin,” he said carefully, “is everything okay at home?”

Melanie facepalmed. Of course.  _ Of course  _ Mercury would manage to phrase that in the worst way possible.  _ Why  _ had she trusted him to start the conversation?

Cardin rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t know,” he drawled. “I haven’t been home recently. I’m stuck here with you idiots, remember?”

Mercury huffed. “Hey-”

“Look,” Melanie interjected, “Cardin, we’re just trying to help. If something’s bothering you, we want to fix it so you stop bullying people.”

Cardin laughed. “Oh, you think something is making me act like this? Have you ever considered the fact that maybe this is just who I am? A jerk?”

Melanie shook her head. “You’re not a jerk. I would know. If you could just-”

“Just what? Just change myself completely? No way. I’m not ‘messed up,’ okay? I don’t need to be ‘fixed.’ I’m _ sorry _ I don’t fit into your perfect world, but this is who I am.”

“Cardin-” Melanie started, but the boy just turned away.

“Leave me alone,” he said, throwing the door open. “Just leave me alone.”

The door thudded closed, the three students sitting in silence before Melanie turned to her twin. 

“So?” she asked. Miltia looked up, normally green eyes suddenly the same brilliant blue as Cardin’s. 

“He’s hiding something,” she answered. “I felt anger, guilt, and  _ fear.  _ I don’t know what’s going on, but he’s deathly afraid we’ll find out.”

Melanie nodded. “Huh, okay. Let me think for a sec.”

“Whoa whoa whoa,” Mercury said. “Anyone want to explain what just happened? Why are Miltia’s eyes blue? What is she talking about, he felt fear?  _ How did she know that? _ ”

Melanie rolled her eyes. “Calm down. It’s just Mil’s Semblance.”

“I can read people’s emotions,” Miltia explained. “My eyes turn the same color as theirs when I do. That’s why I didn’t let Cardin see my face while we were talking.”

“Okay,” Mercury said. “And do you make a habit of feeling what other people are feeling? How do I know you’re not reading my emotions right now?”

Melanie shook her head. “Her eyes would be grey, idiot. And besides, Mil doesn’t do that unless she needs to. Morals or some crap.”

“It’s not crap to have  _ empathy, _ ” Miltia argued. “Heck, I should have more empathy than the average person, not less.”

Melanie rolled her eyes for what felt like the fifth time. “Whatever. What are we going to do about Cardin?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t do anything,” Mercury said. “I mean, he was pretty clear about us leaving him alone.”

“But he also felt fear,” Melanie countered. “Even if he’s being an ass, we should still find out what’s going on.”

“Fine.” Mercury consented. “But we can’t let him see us.”

“Roger that,” Melanie said with a grin. She ducked into the closet, rummaging until she found two black fedoras- one with a red ribbon and one with a white. “Mil? It’s stalker time.”

Mercury pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why am I not surprised?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might actually be my favorite chapter I've written so far. I love the Malachite twins, and Roman, while wildly hard to write, is one of my favorite characters. Thanks to everyone for comments & kudos!


	4. Intervention

**Chapter Four: Intervention**

Cardin hadn’t gone far, Mercury realized as he and the Malachite twins stepped out of the dorm building. Just across the pathway to the tiny garden. It was one of Emerald’s favorite places in Beacon, so she and Mercury had spent a lot of time there in between classes. A small fountain graced the center, surrounded by flower beds and small garden benches. It wasn’t a place Mercury could imagine Cardin ever going, but there he was- shoulders hunched, staring at the ground. Mercury glanced behind him, gesturing for Melanie and Miltia to follow. He crept over to a tree, climbing far enough into the branches so Cardin couldn’t see him. 

From this height, he could see Miltia duck behind a bush, her hat almost getting caught on a twig. Honestly, Mercury didn’t see the point of the ridiculous outfits- fedoras, trench coats, and sunglasses. Sure, they looked cool, but he felt like they would attract more attention, not less. Still, the Malachites had insisted, and Mercury had to admit they were doing a pretty good job of spying. 

He wondered how much of this they had done before. The way Melanie had phrased it-  _ Mil? It’s stalker time. _ \- made him slightly afraid to ask. He didn’t need to know what they had done as daughters of Vale’s biggest crime lord. 

Cardin shifted on his bench, and for a moment Mercury was afraid he had seen them. But he just sighed, pulling out his buzzing Scroll. Mercury squinted, trying to make out the caller name- M something. Cardin pressed  _ Accept Call.  _

“Cardin Winchester,” came a stern female voice. “Why am I already receiving calls about you getting into fights?”

“Hey, Mam,” Cardin said. “How’s the store?” The hopeful tone in his voice startled Mercury.  _ He’s been waiting for her to call,  _ he realized.  _ He wants her to pay attention to him.  _

“I don't have time for this,” Cardin’s mom said. “I’m telling you, Cardin, this is your last chance. I’m running a business- I can’t keep bailing you out when you get in trouble.”

“Mam, I just wanted to talk to you-”

“I’m not joking, kid. If you get kicked out of this school, that’s it. You’re not coming home.”

“Okay, Mam. I-I’ll do better.”

“Yes, you will,” she said. She hung up, a long beep emitting from Cardin’s Scroll. Cardin put his head in his hands and cursed. 

Mercury blinked. That. . . had not gone the way he was expecting. Who knew that Cardin Winchester, of all people, would have parental issues? Especially such…  _ sad  _ ones.

On a split-second impulse, he leapt down from the tree. Out of the corner of his eye, Mercury could see Miltia staring at him in disbelief, but he paid her no attention. He walked over to Cardin, sinking onto the bench beside him. The redhead looked up. 

“I  _ thought  _ I told you to leave me alone,” he growled. “If you tell anyone what you heard-”

Mercury rolled his eyes.

“You’ll beat me up. Yes, I’m aware.”  _ You couldn’t land a hit on me, actually,  _ he thought, but didn’t voice the sentiment. It probably wouldn’t be the best way to approach this guy.

Cardin huffed, hunching his shoulders again and pointedly ignoring Mercury. Silence reigned for a long minute before Mercury spoke. 

“When I was growing up, I thought that my father loved me.”

Cardin gave him a confused look, unfolding slightly but still staying away. Mercury noticed Cardin’s Scroll on the bench, slipping it into his pocket so it wouldn’t get broken. He continued. 

“I thought families were supposed to be loving, to care about you. I had this idea in my head that my father just had an odd way of showing his affection. For years, I managed to trick myself into thinking that the things he did to me- the  _ abuse  _ I suffered- was his way of saying he loved me.”

“Look, I don’t need your family history, okay?” Cardin interrupted. “I have problems of my own. I’m sorry your dad was a jerk, but let’s face it. You’re nothing like me. At least now you have people who care about you.”

Mercury tilted his head. “You have people who care about you too. And I think we’re more similar than you know.”

Cardin stared at him but didn’t respond. Mercury took that as an invitation to keep going. “My dad hurt me, stole my Semblance, destroyed my legs. He told me it would help me grow stronger. But the only person growing stronger was _ him _ .” 

Mercury took a breath. “I spent most of my life trapped with him, waiting for him to love me, to act like family should. But he never did. It took me years to realize that he just  _ didn’t care.  _ And…” he shrugged. 

“Yeah, I might not have your exact problem. I don’t have to act out to get attention- I’ve always had more of it than I wanted. But I understand what it’s like to want someone to love you. So much that you’ll do anything to get that love.”

Cardin turned to face him, looming over Mercury in a way that was vaguely threatening. And then he… threw himself forward and  _ hugged  _ Mercury. The grey-haired boy blinked, feeling his ribs get constricted more and more, and hugged back. 

“I can’t tell if this is really sweet, or really depressing.” Mercury and Cardin broke apart to see Melanie standing in front of them, one hand on her hip. Miltia popped up next to her. 

“Personally, I’d say gross,” she replied. Melanie snorted.

“I’ll attest to that.”

Cardin stared at the twins. 

“What are you  _ wearing? _ ” he asked. Mercury grinned. 

“It’s a long story.”

Peals of laughter drifted onto the street, originating from the small noodle shop the twins had led them to. Mercury was doubled over, face almost in his food as Melanie continued her story. 

“So Dad’s looking for her!” She said, grinning. “Hei Xiong, this huge, missile-wielding gangster guy, tearing up the house to find Neo before Roman gets home.”

“But she’s nowhere to be found,” Miltia put in. “Tiny, seven-year-old girl, just” she mimed an explosion, “poof!”

“And finally the door opens and Roman comes in,” Melanie said, Mercury and Cardin falling silent. “He doesn’t do anything at first, just stands there looking disappointed as Dad falls over himself to apologize. Then he smiles and steps forward like he’s about to kiss Dad.”

“Closer,” Miltia added, tone sounding like someone in a horror movie. “Closer, closer. And then-”

“He turns back into Neo!” Melanie exclaimed. “And Dad’s just standing there, trying to get over the fact that his daughter can  _ turn into his boyfriend.”  _

Cardin almost fell off his stool laughing. “That’s insane. What were you two doing?”

Miltia smirked. “Recording the whole thing on our Scrolls to blackmail Dad with later, obviously.”

“So wait, was that when Neo unlocked her Semblance?” Mercury asked. Melanie nodded. 

“Yup. It was a crazy day.”

All four of them laughed, trading anecdotes until the grey-haired shopkeeper came to quiet them. They paid the bill and began to walk back to Twilight, the streetlights throwing long shadows on the ground. The Malachite twins drifted ahead, talking about who-knows-what as Cardin fell into step beside Mercury.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Mercury replied. Cardin hesitated before saying,

“What happened? To your dad, I mean. What made you realize he didn’t love you?”

Mercury sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. “There wasn’t really one thing, honestly. Just a pileup of tiny hints that I chose to ignore to make myself feel better. Little jabs at my weaknesses, nights he’d come home from the bar and just  _ hurt me  _ for no particular reason. Until I just-  _ snapped. _ ”

He stopped talking, stopped moving at all. Cardin put a hand on his arm. 

“Are you-”

“I killed him.” Mercury said bluntly. “I killed my father. My  _ father. _ And you want to know the worst part? He would have done the same to me. He would have killed me without a thought because I wasn’t  _ strong _ enough.” 

Cardin stared at him, face filled with emotion Mercury couldn’t decipher. So he didn’t try. He turned away and hid his face in the shadows. “And I’m not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me. I’m not telling you this to make you think your mom’s going to kill you. I’m telling you this because no matter what you do to get attention from your mom? She’s not going to stop thinking of you as a problem. The only way to get her attention is to break ties entirely.”

He pulled Cardin’s Scroll out of his pocket, holding it out between them. “Call her. Tell her that it doesn’t matter if you get kicked out of Twilight, because you’re not coming home either way. Tell her you’re  _ done. _ ”

Cardin gazed at the Scroll, reaching out to take it. His hand hovered over it before he closed his fist, shaking his head. 

“I can’t.” He met Mercury’s eyes, biting his lip. “I want to- gods, it would be so easy. But families aren’t supposed to be easy. You have to put  _ work _ in. And if she won’t, then- then I will.”

He shook his head again. “I have to stay. I have to hope that one day, she’ll see me. See me, not the kid she wishes she had. But in the meantime-” he smiled sadly. “Thank you.”

Mercury nodded. Half of him wanted to shout at Cardin- _are you stupid? She’s never going to ‘see you!’-_ but the other half shared Cardin’s hope. And that half, the stronger half, smiled at Cardin and handed him his Scroll.   
“Okay.” Cardin started walking again, but stopped as Mercury called his name. “Hey, Cardin? I see you.”

Cardin smiled. “Yeah.”

“They’re going to start hugging again,” Melanie deadpanned. Mercury turned to face her and her sister, who must have come back while he was talking to Cardin. “I swear, the mushiness today has been ridiculous. Give me an old-fashioned fistfight any day.”

Mercury rolled his eyes. “Please. Like you’re not happy we can all get along now.”

“Getting along I support. Hugging constantly? No.”

Mercury chuckled, stepping forward and sweeping her into a hug. Melanie huffed. “Release me this second or your nose will never be the same.”

Behind her, Mercury could hear Miltia laughing- until Cardin pulled her into what quickly became a giant group hug. Mercury cast a look at the streetlight-illuminated faces of his team and smiled. Finally, everyone was getting along.

* * *

Whitley snatched his family picture from Ilia’s latest hiding spot and glared at his partner.

“Seriously, stop moving it! Do you want me to steal  _ your  _ photos?”

“ _ My  _ photos don’t glorify a  _ racist! _ ” Ilia snapped back.

“He’s not a racist!”

“Says the racist’s  _ son! _ ”

“ _ Guys! _ ” Neo yelled. “Shut  _ up! _ ”

Emerald shook her head. “It’s only been a week since we moved in here, and you guys are already fighting day and night. I get you have differences, but  _ please  _ stop.”

“I’ll stop,” Ilia snarled, “when he stops pretending he cares about Faunus.”

“I  _ do  _ care about Faunus!” Whitley protested. “Admit it, you’re just as prejudiced against my family as you claim we are to Faunus!”

“What? That’s  _ completely  _ different.”

“Okay,” Neo interrupted. “We gave you a warning.”

“Now it’s time for drastic measures.” Emerald said. Whitley wasn’t sure he liked her smile. 

“Drastic measures?” Ilia asked. “Like what?”

“Like this.”

Suddenly, Neo pushed Whitley backward, towards the wall. He tried to summon a glyph and get himself upright, but only succeeded in tripping himself and landing inside the closet Ilia shared with Neo. A minute later, Ilia landed next to him and the door closed. Whitley heard the  _ click  _ of the lock. 

“Seriously?” He yelled.

“Figure out how you’re going to stop fighting.” Emerald said, a smirk evident in her voice. “Then you can come out.”

“I mean… Ilia’s already come out of the closet.” Neo said.

“That is the worst joke _ ,  _ Neo. The  _ worst joke. _ ”

“Sorry, couldn’t resist,” Neo responded. Inside the closet, Ilia banged her head against the wall. 

“They locked us in a closet,” She said. “This is ridiculous.”

“I know,” Whitley replied. “I can’t believe you got us into this.”

“ _ I  _ got us into this?  _ You’re  _ the one making blatantly racist statements and exhibiting your support of a bigot!” Ilia turned toward him, eyes narrowed and shining yellow in the dim light of the closet.

“That  _ bigot  _ is my  _ father! _ ”

“So you agree your father is a bigot!”

“No! What?” Whitley sighed. “Look, let’s just find a way out of here. Can we kick the door down or something?”

“Okay, so A, this is my closet and we’re  _ not  _ destroying it, and B, it’s reinforced with steel. We can’t break it.”

“Why is your closet reinforced with steel?” 

“In case we’ve captured someone and need a place to put them! All the closets are like this!”

“ _ Why? _ ”

“I don’t know!” 

“Ugh. Whatever. Let’s just… what are we going to do?”

“Talk about your problems.” Emerald’s voice floated through the door. “Use I-statements.”

“What the hell are I-statements, Emerald?” Ilia yelled. 

“I don’t know, it's just a thing therapists say.” 

“I’m very glad you are not a therapist.”

“Just talk about your problems!”

“I cannot believe I’m being life coached by my teammate who stuck me in a  _ closet _ .”

“Just- Whitley. Why do you dislike Ilia?”

“Um…” Whitley responded. Ilia was making frantic hand movements at him. 

“Play along!” She whispered. “Answer the question!”

“Well, I guess it’s because the first time we met, she insulted my father. And since he’s basically my role model, that made me angry. I didn’t think she had a  _ right  _ to call my father a jerk. That last part.. That might have been some of my own prejudice.”

Ilia stared at him. “When I said play along, that was not what I meant.”

Whitley shrugged. “I was just telling the truth. I think my Atlas conditioning might have left me with a tiny bit of racism.”

Ilia let out a breath. “I suppose… I suppose I haven’t been quite fair either. It’s not right to judge you because of what your father has done.” 

Whitley held out his hand. “We didn’t exactly begin on the best terms. What do you say? Can we start over?”

Slowly, she reached out and took his hand. Whitley offered a small smile. 

“I’m Whitley.”

She smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners. 

“Ilia.”

* * *

Outside the door, Emerald whooped. 

“They made up! They’re friends!”

Neo sounded skeptical. “Are you sure? That was fast.” 

“I told you- stick two people in a closet together, and they’ll stop fighting in no time. It’s the perfect therapy tactic.”

“You would be a terrible therapist.” Neo said.

“That’s what I said!” Ilia yelled from inside the closet. “Now could you  _ please  _ let us out?” 

“Yeah, sure,” Neo said. Ilia heard footsteps and then the door opened. She shot to her feet. 

“Go!” She shouted. Whitley summoned two glyphs, throwing Neo and Emerald inside the closet as he stepped out. Ilia slammed the door. 

“Hey!” Emerald cried. Ilia smirked.

“We’ll let you out eventually. Until then…” Ilia leaned close to the door. “Don’t forget to use I-statements.”

And she turned away from the door, looking at her partner- and, maybe, friend. 

“Wanna go grab some food?” She asked. Whitley shrugged. 

“Sure.”

Ilia pushed him slightly, raising an eyebrow. 

“Your dad’s still racist, by the way.”

* * *

Deep under the ground of the ruined city, James Ironwood paced back and forth in front of his desk. 

“Report,” he said to the soldier standing in front of him- a young woman by the name of Pyrrha Nikos. James didn’t like using soldiers as young as Nikos, but she was an exceptional fighter and took her duties seriously. 

“The Dust raid went well. We only have two more targets to hit this week.”

James nodded. “I believe Specialist Branwen is taking his nieces to the docks on Saturday. Can you and your team handle the shop in downtown Vale tonight? It’s a bit close to Twilight- I can send Xiao Long if need be.”

Nikos shook her head. “That won’t be necessary, General. But thank you.”

“Thank  _ you,  _ soldier. You’re a great asset to this rebellion.”

She smiled hesitantly. “I should go prepare my team. We’ll have the Dust by sunrise.”

“Good luck, soldier.”

She nodded and left the room. James turned to a door behind his desk, opening it and stepping out onto a balcony. People ran here and there below him, preparing for raids or distributing supplies to the wounded. They were small, yes, unlikely to win against the empire that Salem ruled. But they would rise. They would win. He had to believe that, to act strong in the face of all they were fighting. He had to hope.

James Ironwood looked over his rebellion and he smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta say, this is not my favorite chapter I've written so far. I enjoy the MMMC interactions but the ending is just...meh.  
> Chances are, this'll end up rebooted when I have the time. Thank you for reading!


	5. Origin

**Chapter Five: Origin**

Emerald awoke to screams. 

“Wow, that would be a great first line in a story.” 

“What would?” Neo asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. 

“Emerald awoke to screams,” Emerald replied, idly moving her blankets to the side. Neo nodded.

“Ooh, that is good,” she responded. “But they’re not really screams, they’re more like-” she tilted her head- “…sirens.”

“Sirens?” Whitley mumbled, rolling over in his bed. “Can someone turn them off? I wanna sleep.” Emerald rolled her eyes.

“We have no control, Whitley. Those are the city sirens. Something’s been stolen.”

They all sat in silence for a moment before Emerald realized what she had said.

“Oh Brothers, something’s been stolen!”

Whitley, Neo and Emerald all rushed to the window, craning their necks to see past the CCT tower in the middle of the courtyard and into Vale.

“Can you tell what’s going on?” Neo asked Whitley, who was by far the tallest. He shook his head. 

“No, the tower’s in the way. I’m sure the authorities have it under control, though. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Emerald shrugged. “While I’m not going to debate the obvious foreshadowing that statement implies, I’m curious about what’s happening down there. We don’t have classes today- what’d you say to going into Vale for the day?”

“Sure,” Whitley answered, glancing at the huddled form of his partner on her bed. “Should we wake Ilia?” 

“I’m awake,” the girl groaned, lifting herself out of bed and tapping her ears. “Faunus, remember? I can always hear you guys get up, even when there  _ aren’t  _ shrieks outside.”

“That’s… vaguely creepy.” Neo said. 

“Hey, I didn’t ask to be woken up every time Whitley cries in his sleep!”

Whitley choked on thin air. “I do  _ not  _ cry in my sleep!”

Ilia raised her eyebrows. “Sure.” Then, seeming to sense the waves of discomfort radiating off their team leader, she grabbed her clothes. “We going or not?”

* * *

“Wow.” Whitley said, staring at the closed-off area that used to be a Dust store. It was  _ mostly  _ intact, though the Dust canisters inside were clearly empty and the window was shattered- which was presumably what had set off the city sirens in the first place. “What do you think happened?” 

As if in answer to his question, two men- whose badges identifies them as Vale-appointed detectives- walked into the shop and began taking notes. 

“Fourth shop this week,” one said to his partner. 

“Those rebels sure are busy.” The other replied. 

The first detective nodded. “You know,  _ I  _ heard this one was Nikos.”

Neo took in a sharp breath. “Nikos as in  _ Pyrrha  _ Nikos?” she asked, not loud enough for the detectives to hear. 

Emerald blinked. “You know her?” 

“Of course,” Neo replied. “Everyone does.’’

Whitley raised an eyebrow. “I don't.” 

“She was a winning prizefighter,” Neo explained. “Youngest ever to win the Mistralian tournaments. She was thirteen when she went rogue.”

“Left Mistral, seemingly left Remnant altogether until she resurfaced last year as a member of the rebels. She’s an amazing fighter. Practically a legend,” Emerald finished. 

“A legend who’s robbing Dust shops?” Whitley asked. 

“Apparently. Though it's weird how many stores the rebels have been hitting. Why do they need that much Dust?” Neo wondered. 

“Maybe they’re planning an attack,” Emerald suggested. Whitley scoffed. 

“Please. Vale’s security is top-notch. I should know- much of it comes from Atlas. Not to mention the school full of warriors less than a mile away.”

“If there’s anything these robberies have been proving, it’s that Vale’s security is severely lacking. Didn’t you hear those guys? This is the  _ fourth _ this week alone.” Ilia said. 

Emerald bit her lip. “True. I wonder how they’re getting past the alarms, though. Think about it- the city sirens only went off  _ after  _ the robbery.”

Ilia nodded. “Odd, but. . .”

“Hey, can we go to the docks?’’ Neo shouted suddenly. “There’s a coffee shop down there that has  _ amazing  _ croissants.”

Emerald grinned. “Coffee Girl? I love that place!”

Whitley leaned over to Ilia. “Coffee Girl?” he asked. Ilia shrugged. 

“I’m as in the dark as you are. Not being from Vale is starting to have some major disadvantages.”

“Where  _ are  _ you from?” Whitley said curiously. It had just occurred to him that he knew next to nothing about his partner’s background. Ilia shifted uncomfortably. 

“Mantle, originally,” she said. “Then I moved to Menagerie later.”

Whitley wanted to ask why, but the look on Ilia’s face made him stay quiet. And it wasn’t like he wasn’t keeping secrets from her. 

As if she could read his mind, Ilia fixed him with a look. 

“My turn to ask a question,”

Whitley raised an eyebrow. “Shoot.”

“In initiation, you were talking about your glyphs. You mentioned a few family members, as well as seeming to start the word ‘sister’ before cutting yourself off. Why? I thought you were an only child.”

Whitley cursed mentally, trying frantically to remember the cover story his father had given him in case this happened. 

“I, um, I had a sister. Two, actually, both older than me. They died when I was thirteen.”

Ilia’s mouth made a small o. “I’m- I’m sorry. How old were they?”

“The oldest, Winter, was seventeen. Weiss was fifteen.”

Ilia exhaled. “That’s terrible. Were you close?”

Whitley shrugged. “ _ I  _ thought we were.”  _ And then they went off and joined the rebels, so we obviously didn’t have as good a relationship as I thought.  _

“What’cha guys talking about?” Neo asked, popping up between them and making both jump back with a small shriek. She and Emerald had seemingly exhausted the topic of Coffee Girl. 

“Nothing,” Whitley said at the same time Ilia said “Home,”

Neo nodded. “Oh. You guys homesick?”

“Less for my home and more for my friends. You?” Ilia replied. Neo lifted her hands in a half-shrug. 

“I mean, my dad and the two girls I grew up with are all here, so I can’t really miss them.”

“You grew up with Melanie and Miltia?” Emerald asked. Neo grinned. 

“Yeah. Our dads are. . . together. Sort of.”

“Sort of?” Whitley questioned. 

“You don't want to know.” Neo fixed him with a look that implied many things, none of them good. Whitley nodded slowly, resisting the urge to back away. 

“Soo. . .” Emerald said. “Coffee Girl?”

* * *

“I can _ not  _ believe you ordered _ tea  _ at a coffee shop.” Neo said, nursing some monstrosity she called coffee. From what Ilia could see, it consisted of whipped cream, chocolate, and sprinkles. 

“At least I ordered something that qualifies as a  _ drink. _ ” She shot back, taking a sip of her tea. It was something called Vanilla Orange- which, despite the name, actually wasn’t that bad. Next to her, Whitley held a cup of unsweetened Earl Grey, while Emerald had ordered a black coffee with milk. (“Two percent,” she had said specifically. )

“This  _ is  _ a drink!” Neo protested. 

“ _ That  _ is diabetes in its purest form.”

Neo huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as Whitley started to laugh. Ilia grinned at him and settled back, gazing across the foggy bay. This was. . . nice, in a way. It felt almost home-y. 

“Hey, Ilia?” Emerald asked a few minutes later, leaning over Neo. “Earlier you said you missed your friends. What about family?”

_ Oh no.  _

Ilia bit her lip. “That’s. . . a long story.”

“We’ve got nothing but time,” Whitley pointed out. Ilia sighed. 

“Okay. But I can’t promise. . . I can’t promise you’ll like it.”

Whitley gave her a confused look. 

“All right.” He said. 

Ilia took a deep breath. “I told you before that I was from Mantle. My parents worked in the SDC mines near our home. When I got old enough, they managed to enroll me in an Atlas elementary school. I studied there for three years under the guise that I was a human.”

Emerald flinched. “That- I’m sorry. ”

Ilia kept talking. “Many of the other students would make racist comments about Faunus. I’m not sure if they knew it was wrong or if they had just been raised with those beliefs. Anyway,” she added. “When I was eleven, I got news my parents had- had died _.  _ In the mines. And the other kids  _ laughed.  _ ” She smiled thinly, pale blue bubbling up on her skin. “I basically went ballistic. Actually kicked in the teeth of one guy.” She shrugged. “I was expelled, of course. Got shipped off to Menagerie, where I met my friend Blake and her family. My new family. And. . . that’s about it.”

The rest of her team stared at her. 

“Can I give you a hug?” Neo asked. Ilia offered a small smile. 

“Sure.” Emerald and Neo both moved forward, hugging Ilia tightly. When they stepped back, Ilia chanced a glance at Whitley. “You okay?”

Whitley let out a small breath. 

“How- how did your parents die?”

Ilia looked down.  _ I knew this would happen. He’s grown up being told his company is perfect. Of course he won’t take this well. Just stop talking.  _ But there was a small part of her that wondered if maybe, just maybe, this would reach him. And that part of her kept talking. 

“A mining accident- or, at least, accident is the official term. They were sent into an unsecured area full of volatile Dust. It pretty much blew up in their faces.”

Whitley swallowed. “This is what you meant before, isn’t it?” he asked in a small voice. “When you said the mines aren’t safe. You knew firsthand.”

When Ilia nodded, he shook his head. 

“But- that doesn’t make sense. The mines are  _ safe! _ ” He turned away, muttering to himself. “They  _ have  _ to be safe.”

Ilia reached toward him, withdrawing her hand when he flinched away. 

“Whitley?” she asked. 

“I need to go.” he said, whirling around. “I’m sorry. I need to go.”

“What? Go where?” Neo asked. Whitley shook his head again. 

“Away. I need to- figure something out.” 

“Whitley-” Ilia started, but the snowy-haired boy just turned on his heel and pounded away into the dark. 

Ilia stared after him. 

“Whitley!”

* * *

He shouldn’t have run. He  _ knew  _ he shouldn’t have run. He should stop running right now, turn around, and go back to his team.

“And do what?” Whitley asked out loud. “My family killed her  _ parents _ . I can’t pretend like nothing happened.”

_ Fuck.  _ This… this was too much. 

He sank down onto the curb, barely registering that his clothes would probably get dirty. That was the least of his problems right now. 

“He would have told me,” he muttered. “He would have said  _ something _ . He wouldn’t lie to me. There must be a logical explanation for this.’’

He pulled out his Scroll, finger hovering over the button that read FATHER. Blowing a small puff of air, he pressed it. The Scroll rang once, twice, and was picked up.

“Whitley.” The voice was familiar, as cool and unemotional as his father always was. 

“Father,” Whitley replied. “How have you been?”

“Fine. How are your studies going?”

“Well, actually. I’m at the top of my class.” 

“Good. And your teammates? Have they been treating you with the respect you deserve?”

Whitley thought of Emerald, deadpanning insults so they seemed like jokes, and Neo, shoving him into a closet. He thought of Ilia, who held a level of disdain for everything he did in a way that was almost funny. 

“Yes. Perfectly respectful.”

“Excellent.”

Silence reigned for almost thirty seconds until Whitley’s father spoke again.

“Was there anything else? I have to get back to work.”

Whitley took a deep breath.  _ It's now or never.  _

“Yeah, actually. Has anyone ever… died? In our mines?”

“Of course they have. We’re a  _ Dust  _ company, Whitley. There are going to be accidents.”

“But we try to stop them, right? We secure the mining areas?”

“We try, but sometimes that’s just not possible. May I ask why you want to know?”

“What do you mean, you try?”

“Well, we have to send people down into the mines to secure the areas first. What is the point of these ridiculous questions?”

“And who do you send down? To secure the areas?”

“ _ Workers,  _ of course. Whitley-”

“Which workers?  _ Faunus  _ ones?”

“Workers that are in the lower class, so yes. Mainly Faunus. Why on Remnant would you care?”

Whitley tried to stop himself from shouting at his father. How-  _ why _ would he do this?

“No reason. Just wondering. School stuff,” he said, trying to sound normal.

“What are they teaching you over there?” His father huffed. “It’s probably Cinder’s idea. I never liked that woman.”

“Listen, Father, I have to go. Goodbye!”

Whitley hung up and collapsed on the ground. 

* * *

Sun Wukong didn’t think he was particularly creepy. 

Charming? Yes. Funny? Definitely. Incredibly hot? Well, that one was obvious. 

But creepy? No. 

Sun wasn’t  _ creepy.  _ He was just… sitting on a rooftop watching a boy walk slowly down the street in the hopes he could get a date. 

Not with the boy, obviously. He was cute, but not Sun’s type. His teammate, on the other hand… 

Sun leapt down from the roof, using his tail to swing himself around a fire escape and land right in front of the boy. 

“Hey!” he said. The boy looked up from where he had been studying the ground, throwing him a look of such disdain Sun took a step back.

“Do you  _ need  _ something?” he asked in a voice that said  _ please do not need something. Please just go away.  _

Sun, of course, did none of those things, instead falling into step beside the boy and holding out a hand. 

“No. You just seemed sad. I’m Sun, by the way.”

The boy studied his hand for a moment before shaking it gingerly. “Whitley.”

Sun nodded. “Cool.” 

They walked in silence for a moment before Sun decided to ask, “So, you go to Twilight, right?”

Whitley cocked an eyebrow. “How did you know?”

Sun shrugged. “Seen you and your team around before. One of your teammates is kinda hot.”

Whitley gave him an odd look. “Which one?”

“Chameleon Faunus? Freckles, big ponytail?” Sun asked, gesturing behind his head. Whitley barked a laugh. 

“Trust me, you’re  _ way  _ off track. She’s not interested.”

Sun grinned. “I bet I could  _ make  _ her interested.”

“No.” Whitley deadpanned. “She’s a lesbian.”

Sun stopped in his tracks. “ _ Oh.”  _ He groaned. “Why does this always happen?”

“You hit on lesbians a lot?” Whitley asked. Sun shrugged. 

“Lesbian girls, straight guys- none of the people I hit on are the right sexuality. It’s very frustrating.”

Whitley sighed. “Look, as much as I’d  _ love  _ to stand here and listen to you complain about your lack of a relationship, I’m trying to figure something out. And you’re not helping.”

“What are you trying to figure out?” Sun asked. Whitley glared at him. 

“Something personal. Which means I’m not going to discuss it with a stranger.”

“Whoa, okay.” Sun held up his hands. “Just wondering if I could help.”

“You can  _ help  _ by leaving me alone.” Whitley said, turning and taking off towards the docks. Sun watched him go. 

“Darn it.” 

  
  


“So let me get this straight.” One of Whitley’s teammates, a girl who had introduced herself as Emerald, stared at Sun. “You  _ stalked  _ Whitley in order to hook up with Ilia, didn’t hook up with Ilia, tried to comfort Whitley, somehow made him  _ more  _ depressed, and are now coming to us with the information that Whitley’s at the docks? How does that make  _ any  _ logical sense? We don’t even know who you are or if we should trust you.”

Sun grinned. “Oh, that’s easy! I’m Sun Wukong. Me and my team are in Vale for the festival in a few weeks. We’re from Mirage Academy?”

The short, ice-cream-colored girl- Neo, apparently- standing next to Emerald nodded slowly. 

“It does make sense. He has that sort of wild Vacuo ‘plan? What plan? We die like men!’ air about him.”

Sun squinted at her. “I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or an insult.”

Neo snorted. “Insult. Definitely.” 

Ilia, the cute chameleon girl who had been scowling at Sun since he admitted he thought she was hot, finally spoke. 

“I don’t really think we have a choice. Whitley’s been gone almost a day, and it’s the best lead so far.” She glared at Sun. “And if it is some sort of trap, I think we can take this guy. Heck, I even brought Whitley’s pistols in case we find him.”

“So it’s all agreed, then?” Emerald asked. Ilia nodded. 

“Let’s go find our team leader.”

* * *

As dusk settled over Vale, Specialist Qrow Branwen helped his nieces into an airship. 

“You kids ready?” he asked. Their exuberant ‘yes!’- Ruby was literally jumping up and down, for goodness sake- made him smile. It had been a while since he had seen anyone that excited about an assignment. 

“This mission’s pretty low risk, but I want you two to be careful anyway. We get in, get the Dust, get out. Disable any androids we have to. There shouldn’t be actual people on guard, so we don’t have to worry about that. All right?”

“Okay, Uncle Qrow!” Ruby said, voice bouncing off the walls of the bullhead. Qrow gave her a look. 

“ _ Okay, Uncle Qrow,”  _ she whispered. Next to her, Yang laughed. 

“If you wanted stealth, you probably shouldn’t have chosen Ruby.”

Ruby scoffed. “I can be stealthy when I want to be!” At Yang’s incredulous look, she continued, “I  _ can! _ And besides. This is my first mission. I’m  _ not  _ going to mess it up.”

Yang smiled and ruffled her sister’s hair. “I know, Rubes. You’ll do great.” 

She turned to Qrow. “So? What are we waiting for? Dust raid, here we come!”


	6. Be Okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay- things have been kinda hectic lately.

**Chapter Six: Be Okay**

Whitley gazed down at the expanse of water, shimmering in the fading daylight. From the top of the building he was on, he could see for miles. 

An airship swooped down onto the landing pad next to him, a few androids disembarking to unload huge crates. The SDC symbol seemed to shine like a spotlight on their sides. Whitley knew these crates were full of enough Dust to power Vale for the next two weeks at least. He wondered how many Faunus had been sent into death traps in order to mine it. 

Whitley sighed, putting his head in his hands. How was he supposed to deal with this? His father’s company-  _ his  _ company- was killing Faunus solely because they were  _ Faunus?  _ Because they were  _ expendable?  _

His father hadn’t seemed remorseful about it either.  _ Why on Remnant would you care?  _ He had asked. 

_ Why on Remnant wouldn’t  _ you? Whitley wanted to shout.  _ Can’t you see you’re killing people? _

He shook his head. What was he going to do now? He couldn’t go back to Twilight. He couldn’t face Ilia. 

_ All those fights.  _ He thought grimly.  _ All those arguments where she told me my father was racist and I refused to believe her. I’m just as bad as he is.  _

Whitley was startled out of his self-deprecation by the sound of another bullhead approaching. It landed gracefully on the docks, three figures leaping down next to the Dust crates. 

One made a circular gesture, the two smaller ones nodding. The smallest- it appeared to be a girl with red-black hair- opened a door in one of the crates, allowing the other girl- whose yellow hair seemed to glow in the dark- to duck inside and retrieve a box of Dust. She loaded it into the airship. 

_ What are they doing?  _ Whitley wondered.  _ This Dust just got delivered.  _

“Yang!” The shorter girl hissed. “Can you turn down your hair glow? You’re going to get us caught!”

_ Caught? What?  _

Whitley barely managed to hold in a gasp, the detective’s words from yesterday rattling around in his head.  _ Fourth shop this week. Those rebels sure are busy. _

“They’re… stealing it?” he murmured. Down below, Yang frowned, patting her hair until it dimmed slightly. “Sorry, sis.”

Yang’s sister nodded. “It’s fine.” She attempted to pick up another box of Dust, dropping it on her foot in the process. “Ow! Uncle Qrow, can you help me with this one?”

Whitley frowned- Qrow. Where had he heard that name before?- as the man picked up the box.

“Here, Ruby. Stay on guard, will ya? Yang and I will get the Dust.”

Ruby gave him a quick salute, pulling out what appeared to be a mechanized scythe. 

_ I have to do something. Now.  _ Whitley reached for his guns only to realize that he had left them in the dorm the day before- as well as his Scroll.  _ Damnit. Okay. Let’s just get the Dust out of there. Slow them down until I can think of a way to contact the authorities.  _

Closing his eyes, he held out a hand towards the airship, summoning a transport glyph directly under the pile of Dust boxes. He felt another one spring to life on the roof next to him, the stolen Dust appearing there. On the ground, Yang made a surprised noise. 

“Uncle Qrow?” She called. “Where did all the Dust go?”

“What do you mean?” Qrow asked, walking over to the bullhead. Too late, Whitley realized he hadn’t dissolved his glyph. “That’s a glyph, isn’t it? Is Weiss here?”

Whitley flinched.  _ Weiss.  _ This man knew his sister. So he definitely was a rebel. Whitley didn’t know if that made him relieved or more worried. 

Yang shook her head. “No. And she wouldn’t take our Dust anyway. But then who…”

Qrow looked around. “There.” He pointed toward the rooftop Whitley was on. “Whoever it is is there. I’ll take care of it. Keep loading Dust, okay?” Yang nodded, and Qrow took off toward Whitley’s perch, unsheathing some sort of huge sword. Whitley gulped. 

“Shit.” He turned and jumped across to the next building, then the next. The telltale thump of footsteps behind him showed that his attacker was gaining- fast. “Crap, crap, crap. This is not good.” He summoned another transport glyph, jumping onto it and landing on a rooftop across from where he had just been. He breathed a sigh of relief- until he heard someone land behind him.

“You forgot to disappear your glyph,” Qrow said. Whitley jumped back, flipping off the edge of the roof and transporting himself to the ground twenty feet away- making sure to dissolve the glyph this time. He hopscotched from one place to another, Qrow left behind long ago. Finally, he landed on his knees on top of a Dust crate. 

“Okay,” he wheezed. “Think, Whitley, think.”

Qrow’s broadsword pierced the crate in front of him. Whitley looked up to see the man smirking. 

“Sorry, kid. You can’t run forever.”

Whitley tried to scramble back, but Qrow’s foot pinned him in place. The man sighed. “Look. I’m sorry about this, alright? Hell, you’re my niece's age. I’d let you go if I could. But…”

Slowly, he swung his sword out of the crate and pressed the tip to Whitley’s neck. Whitley tried to clear his head, start thinking of a way to get out. 

Behind Qrow, a flash of pink and brown caught his attention. A slow smirk spread across his face. 

“Try it,” he told Qrow. The man gave him an odd look and pushed the sword downwards. Whitley’s form exploded into shards. 

“What-” Qrow spun around only to be blown backwards by a bolt of lightning. Ilia landed next to Whitley and Neo, Emerald not far behind. The Faunus tossed Whitley his pistols. 

“Thanks,” Whitley said. Ilia nodded. 

“You okay?” 

For some reason, Whitley didn’t think she was talking about his run-in with Qrow. He shrugged and gave the most honest answer he could. 

“I will be.”

“Uncle Qrow!” Ruby shouted, running over to where her uncle had fallen. “What happened? Are you all right?”

Qrow groaned. “Fine. But this mission might be a bit more complicated than we thought.”

Ruby grinned, which Whitley thought was a completely inappropriate reaction given that she had just been told she would have to fight people. But hey, to each their own. 

“Okay,” he said, turning to his team. “First things first, we need to tell the Headmistress.”

Neo gave him a thumbs-up. “Already done. Sun went up to Twilight the minute we figured out what was happening.”

Whitley folded his arms. “Are you sure we want to trust him with that?” 

“Hey,” Neo protested, “He’s not that bad.”

“Yes he is.” Ilia responded. Neo rolled her eyes. 

“Whatever. Anyway, we need to hold them off until Headmistress Fall gets here. So. . .”

Whitley took charge. “Neo, you’re on Ruby.” At her questioning look, he elaborated, “The small black-haired one. Emerald, cover the other girl, Yang. Ilia and I will take care of Qrow.”

Suddenly, Ruby landed next to them on the rooftop, scythe outstretched. Neo strolled forward, leaning on her umbrella casually. Ruby frowned and swung her weapon in a large arc, set to cut the smaller girl in half. Neo smirked and opened her umbrella at the last second, catching the scythe and propelling her opponent back. Ruby growled and charged again, both disappearing off the roof. Emerald jumped off the opposite edge, quickly initiating a fight with Yang. Ilia looked at Whitley, then at Qrow, who stood in the middle of the landing pad with his sword unsheathed. Whitley nodded, and both took off. 

Ilia charged straight for Qrow, whip glowing with Dust as they traded blows. It was apparent immediately that Qrow was beating her- Ilia was being forced back, inch by inch. Whitley took aim at the man’s quickly moving form and shot. 

The bullet whistled through the air, Qrow turning at the last second to deflect it and send a bullet of his own.  _ His sword is a gun? What the hell?  _

Whitley jumped onto a glyph and moved to the other side of the area, shooting again and hopping away. Ilia went for Qrow, bright flashes of lightning and metal glowing against the dark sky. Whitley kept up a steady barrage that Qrow was forced to dodge as Whitley flipped from glyph to glyph. At close range, he knew he wouldn’t be able to do much. Better to stay back, moving around and distracting the rebel. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yang chasing what seemed to be thin air, firing bullets from her gauntlets randomly as Emerald snickered a good distance away. He grinned. 

In a blast of red rose petals, Ruby dropped out of the sky and landed next to her uncle, deflecting a blow from Ilia. Neo landed beside Whitley. 

“Hey,” she said, sounding slightly out of breath. “You wanna take her? She’s fast and you might be able to keep up.”

Whitley nodded. “Sure. Help Ilia- I’ll lead her away, try to sabotage the airship.”

He lunged toward Ruby, firing a series of bullets at her head. She whipped her scythe around to block them, swinging it forward. Whitley jumped over the blade, sending another blast that vaulted him over her and onto the wing of the bullhead. Ruby turned into a spiral of rose petals, running straight into him and knocking him over as she landed on the airship’s body. 

“Yeah,” Whitley muttered, “ _ fast.”  _ Ruby swung her scythe around herself and fired a bullet- it was also a gun.  _ Of course  _ it was also a gun- that forced Whitley to swing to the side. He leapt over the bullhead’s wing and onto its body opposite Ruby. She turned and- 

Brightness. The landing pad’s overhead lights seemed to have switched on. Whitley blinked, trying to adjust his eyes. 

Across the airship, Ruby was doing the same thing. He could see her more clearly now- black hair with red streaks, red cape, oddly silver eyes. She looked so-  _ small.  _

Whitley shook his head.  _ Stop it. You can’t feel bad for a rebel. These people are the cause of all the world’s problems. They stole your sisters from you. Shoot her, for god's sake! _

Ruby gasped. Whitley focused on her to see she was staring at him.

“You,” she said, voice wavering.  _ Shoot her!  _ Whitley’s mind yelled, but he couldn’t. She wasn’t attacking him, was she? 

“You look just like her.” Ruby said. She took a step forward, eyes wide. “Why do you look like her? Why do you look like my girlfriend?”

Whitley inhaled sharply. “Your  _ girlfriend?”  _ He asked. 

Ruby cocked her head to the side. “You must be Whitley, then. Weiss said that you were evil.”

Whitley flinched. Evil? Weiss thought-  _ no.  _ It didn’t matter what Weiss thought.  _ Weiss _ was the evil one, not him. 

“I don’t care,” he snapped, trying not to sound like a petulant child.

“You care. It’s your sister.” Ruby responded.

“ _ My sister is dead! _ ” Whitley yelled. Any and all pity he had felt for the smaller girl vanished. He fired at her head, Ruby too surprised to dodge. It hit, her Aura flickering and disappearing altogether. 

Ruby clutched her side, wheezing. “You- you could join us, you know. You can’t be all bad. Weiss would forgive you.”

Whitley snorted, walking forward and kicking Ruby to the ground. He leaned down.

“Maybe she would. But  _ I  _ wouldn’t forgive  _ her _ .”

He stomped on Ruby’s head, effectively rendering her unconscious, and stepped back, taking a deep breath.  _ Okay.  _ He could do this. 

“Ruby!” Yang had gotten free of Emerald’s illusions somehow, and was running full-tilt toward the airship upon which Whitley still stood. He was stepping back into his combat stance when Ilia cried out. He spun around to see Qrow holding her against the side of a Dust crate, sword at her throat. Her whip was lying a few feet away. 

“Yang,” Qrow said, “grab your sister and get in the bullhead. He won’t stop you.” He added, pointing to Whitley. Whitley growled, jumping off the airship and pointing a gun at Qrow.

“Let her go.” 

Qrow shook his head. “She’s coming with us. Perhaps Cinder will be less apt to attack us when we have one of her students.”

“No!” Emerald cried from across the landing pad. Whitley saw her eyes flicker closed, then open again as she shook her head. Semblance wasn’t working, he guessed. Her Aura was too low. Which meant- they had nothing. 

Ilia caught his eye, making frantic head motions toward Qrow. Whitley shook his head- if he shot at the man, Ilia would  _ die.  _

The Faunus sighed, a long-suffering sound that implied Whitley was an idiot. She closed her eyes and her skin became shadowed, making her almost imperceptible against the crate. Qrow snorted, blade still on her neck.

“Nice trick, kid. But I still know where you-” He stepped back suddenly, lowering his sword and looking around with a confused expression. “I-I was just holding someone against that crate. I was going to take them hostage. Who was it?”

Whitley frowned.  _ What?  _ Ilia was hard to see, sure, but that didn’t warrant Qrow just… forgetting about her. But forget about her he apparently had, still scanning the area as Ilia grabbed her whip. She swung it, the lightning Dust igniting as it traveled toward Qrow’s head. 

At the last second, he  _ caught  _ it, smirking. 

“You. I remember now.”

Ilia gawked, pulling at her weapon, but Qrow tugged and propelled Ilia over his head. She landed in a crouch, running back at him as Emerald dropped from who-knows-where. The green-haired girl whirled her sickles, shooting forward at Qrow. The man deflected, moving back toward the bullhead. Whitley fired and rushed forward, blocking the open side. 

“He’s trying to get away!” 

Neo dashed across the landing pad, moving next to Whitley and opening her umbrella. 

“Should we go for Yang or Ruby?” She asked. “He might be more likely to cooperate if we’re threatening them.”

“We’ll just end up getting more hurt,” Whitley responded. “He’s ridiculously good. All we need to do is wait for-”

As if on cue, a blast of red-hot flame shot toward Qrow. Headmistress Fall appeared, standing on a rooftop and holding another ball of fire in her hand. 

“Qrow Branwen,” she called. Her voice was quiet, but somehow carried through the entire dock. “How nice it is to see you again.”

“Funny.” Qrow said. “I was just thinking the opposite.” He moved toward the airship, until his back hit Neo’s umbrella. He sighed. 

“Yang! Time to soar.” 

Inside the airship, Whitley heard a buzzing sound as the wings unfolded and the bullhead began to ascend. Ilia and Emerald stepped forward, surrounding Qrow as he put his hands up. “Okay, okay. I surrender. I-”

Suddenly, the man burst into a cloud of black feathers. Whitley looked up just in time to see a crow fly skywards, trailing the ship. 

“He can turn into a bird?” Emerald asked. Ilia shrugged. 

“I guess.” Neo turned to her. 

“Are you okay? Qrow…” 

“I’m fine,” Ilia assured her. “Aura’s still intact. And I managed to escape, didn’t I?”

“Oh yeah, that. How did you do that?” Neo asked. 

“My Semblance. It allows me to fade from the minds of certain people until I do something that makes them notice me specifically. It’s useful in situations like that.”

_ Oh.  _ Whitley thought.  _ That explains that, then. Cool. _

“Students.” The Headmistress stepped into their little group, surveying each face before continuing. “While I don’t condone getting into fights with people outside of the academy, you have done well.”

“But-” Ilia blurted. “But we didn’t arrest them.”

“No. But you stopped them from stealing the Dust. Although next time, I’d suggest you come get me before you jump straight into a battle.”

“We’ll do better next time, ma’am.” Emerald said. Headmistress Fall gave a nod and walked off. 

“I expect you all back at Twilight within the hour!” She called behind her. Neo glanced at Whitley. 

“Are you… coming back?” She asked. Whitley looked at his feet and then at Ilia. 

“I-I don’t know. Do you want me to?”

Ilia nodded. “Yeah.”

“But my family-  _ your  _ family- how can you be okay with that?”

Ilia twisted her hands, shrugging. “I wasn’t, at first. I didn’t think that a Schnee could be more than a rich, racist bigot. But you aren’t like that. You genuinely believed that your company was equal- your reaction to my story proves that. So… I’m sorry.”

“Me too.” Whitley said. 

“And  _ that  _ means more than old grudges ever can.” She stuck out a hand. “So what do you say? Can we start over? I’m Ilia.”

Whitley realized she was repeating what he had said when they first became friends, two weeks prior. He took her hand. 

“I’m Whitley.  _ Just  _ Whitley.”

Ilia smiled. “Okay.”

* * *

The doors of James’ office slid open, and Qrow walked into the room. James, who had been working on something at his desk, looked up. 

“Qrow! You’re back. How did the mission go?”

Qrow sighed, leaning against the desk. He really wanted a drink. 

“Not well. Some Twilight students showed up, had to fight them. One was the Schnee kid.” 

James raised an eyebrow. “Whitley? Odd. I would have thought he’d be in Atlas.”

Qrow shrugged. “Yeah, me too. Anyway, we had to leave when Cinder got there. Got some Dust, but not a lot. We might have to run more raids.”

James nodded. “I’ll work on it. Is everyone all right?” 

“Ruby’s a little banged up, but she’ll heal quick enough once her Aura recovers. Most of what’s hurt is Yang’s pride. Apparently one of the girls was an illusionist- led her on a wild goose chase. No physical harm done, though.”

“Excellent. And-”

The doors opened again, this time revealing a tall woman with platinum-blond hair. Her heels clicked against the floor as she strode forward. 

“Good, you’re both here.”

“Glynda?” Qrow asked. “I thought you were in Mistral.”

“I was.” Glynda replied. “But I found him.”

James stood up, almost knocking his chair over in the process. “Are you sure it’s him? The next reincarnation?”

“Positive,” Glynda said. She moved back toward the door, beckoning a young boy into the room. He looked barely fifteen, with hazel eyes and messy dark hair. James gasped, stepping forward and crouching down so he was eye-to-eye with the boy. 

“What’s your name?” He asked. The boy blinked.   
“Oscar Pine.”

James smiled, and Qrow smiled with him, both staring at the boy who was the key to everything. And for the first time in a while, Qrow thought they might be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are- end of Volume One! I know it's short, but Volume One is mostly setup- team formation, getting to know the cast, and the confrontation at the end. Volume Two, on the other hand, is going to be much, much longer. 
> 
> I'll be posting an interlude this Monday, and then I'm going to take a week or two off to get Vol. Two set up. Thanks for reading!


	7. Interlude I: Oscar

_Legends._

He didn’t know how long he’d been gone. Trapped somewhere in not-quite-life, but not-quite-death either. 

_Stories scattered through time._

A space in between everything, really. 

_Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past._

All he had were memories. Floating, spinning, leaping past- names. Faces, more than one person could ever know. All felt his own, and yet not exactly his own, as if he could have lived a thousand lifetimes in a thousand different bodies.

_Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world._

But one voice, one blurry face, carried through. Every thought, every memory, was _her._

_An inevitable darkness — creatures of destruction — the creatures of Grimm - set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void._

She was there, snarling and evil and orchestrating his downfall, throughout lives. Lifetimes and lifetimes, she was in his memories, haunting his footsteps all the way.

_However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds._

But there were earlier memories. Ones of her laughing, and joking. Ones that were filled with so much love, so much joy, he had to move on. 

_This power was appropriately named "Dust". Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness, and in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life._

And so he did, searching for something, anything, he could recognize. _Please,_ he begged, _I need to know. How can I get out of here?_

_But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone... darkness will return._

The blankness seemed to hear him, lifting him up, up, blurring past words and pictures from before time,

_So you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called "free world", but take heed... there will be no victory in strength._

Until finally, finally, he reached the end. Reached something that wasn’t a memory but a thought, a hope. And with this hope came face, and then, a name.

_But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul._

_Oscar,_ he whispered. _Help._

* * *

“Is he. . . alive?” Oscar asked, staring through the pane of glass. The grey-haired man on the other side lay on a simple bed, his face set into an expression of eerie calm. The small, slightly beeping machines on a table near the cot were the only sign he wasn’t completely gone. 

“Barely,” General Ironwood said. He stood next to Oscar with both hands folded behind his back, eyes fixed on the unconscious man. “He’s been in this coma since the end of the war. Quite honestly, we were hoping you would know how to wake him.” 

Oscar felt a small twinge of guilt in his stomach, but it couldn’t override the feeling of confusion. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, _why_?”

Ironwood turned to him, and Oscar flinched slightly under the force of his gaze. “Pardon?” 

“Well, um, Special Operative Goodwitch told me that I was needed by the rebellion, but I don’t understand why. Who is that man? Why should I know how to wake him up?”

The General blinked. “So you just followed a strange woman into unknown territory without knowing why she was taking you?”

Oscar shrugged. “Well, I couldn’t do much. She’s kind of scary. And she told my aunt something that made her send me here, but I don’t know a lot.”

Ironwood sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Glynda,” he muttered, “We need to have a talk about your techniques.” He straightened up, focusing on Oscar again. “Okay. That man in there is named Ozpin.”

Oscar tilted his head. “Like the old headmaster of Beacon Academy? I thought Salem killed him in the Greater War.”

“No. She’s smarter than that.”

Oscar stared at him. “Sorry?”

Ironwood took one of his hands from behind his back, flexing the gloved fingers before continuing. “Oscar, do you know of the gods?”

“The brothers of Light and Darkness? Yes.”

“Well, thousands of years ago, before they disappeared, the original Ozpin lost a battle to Salem. Such a huge battle, in fact, that half of humanity was wiped out and the creatures of Grimm rose from the ashes. Such a huge battle that, after he had lost, Ozpin was cursed by the gods.”

“Cursed?” Oscar asked. _I’m sorry, what?_

“Cursed. Whenever he dies, Oz will reincarnate into the body of a like-minded soul.”

“Reincarnate? Come back to life?”

“Essentially, yes.”

“Okay… so who’s the next life? If he’s pretty much dead, why hasn’t he reincarnated?”

“Because we didn’t know where his next host was. If he died and the next life wasn’t here, we’d be at an impasse. Better to keep him in a coma and stable.”

“But you know who the next life- host, or whatever- is.”

“Yes.”

“Who? Do I know them? Is that why you need me?” _Please let that be why they need me._

“Oh, Oscar.”

Ironwood sighed, crouching down so he was face-to-face with Oscar. “ _You_ are the next reincarnation.”

* * *

Oscar’s head hurt.

This- all of this, all the wildly unbelievable information he’d just been given- was insane. According to Ironwood, he was next in line to receive the soul of some mystical magic Ozpin guy. Which was ridiculous- he was sixteen, for goodness sake- and had Oscar wanting to do nothing more than laugh in the man’s face and run away screaming. That was, honestly, the best way to deal with this.

But something about Ozpin’s expression, the way he wore an almost imperceptible frown even in unconsciousness, felt familiar to Oscar. Like a part of him had been searching his whole life and finally found what it was looking for. 

And _that_ made Oscar wonder if maybe Ironwood wasn’t crazy. That maybe, this impossible reality was possible. 

Which, of course, raised the real question here: what was he supposed to do? 

Assuming what he’d been told was true, Oscar was going to merge with Ozpin and save the world. Ironwood hadn’t said that, exactly, but Oscar could infer that he was pretty much the rebellion’s last chance of success. Bring their leader and mentor back from the dead, even in a different body, and they could do anything.

_But I’m not their leader,_ Oscar reminded himself. _I’m not ready to be their leader. I’m a kid. I can’t head a revolution._

_You could,_ a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like General Ironwood said. _If you merged with Ozpin._

_But I’m not ready! I don’t even know if this information is right!_

And round and round it went. Oscar tried his hardest to refocus on his tour guides.

“And right there is our armoury!” Nora, a girl with short orange hair and a constant grin, pointed left at a building that looked pretty much like all the others- grey, looming, and vaguely threatening.

“That’s where our weapons are made, kept, and touched up if need be,” Jaune explained. He and Nora- along with a boy Nora had introduced as Ren and _Pyrrha freaking Nikos_ (Oscar was still in shock over that- she was a legend in Mistral!) - had been asked to show him around Mountain Glenn. As the rebel’s chief headquarters, it was as bustling as any city aboveground- although much more grey. 

“Oscar?” Oscar shook out of his thoughts again to see team JNPR staring at him. He laughed nervously. 

“Sorry. Got distracted. What did you need?”

“It’s fine,” Pyrrha assured him. “We just wanted to know if there was anything else you wanted to see. We’ve pretty much covered the important places.”

“Oh, um. I’m not really sure? I don’t know anything about Mountain Glenn.” Oscar said. Nora’s eyes lit up. 

“Ooh! We should take him to meet Ruby and Yang!”

“I don’t think that’s necessary, Nora,” Ren sighed. Nora waved a hand dismissively. 

“Pfft. Ruby and Yang are interesting! He should totally meet them! And besides,” she added, “We’re supposed to take Oscar to Qrow after this anyway, and you know he’ll be there. It’s not even a detour!”

Jaune shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Let’s go!”

After a ten-minute walk through streets that all looked the same to Oscar, they stopped at an area slightly less run-down than the rest of the city. The houses were almost entirely intact, and people sat on their doorsteps, chatting and laughing. Oscar could almost believe they were normal civilians and not refugees hiding for their lives.

Jaune moved up to the doorway of a small building and knocked on the doorframe. 

“Anyone home?” He called. A few seconds later, a girl with black-red hair stuck her head out. 

“It’s JNPR!” She squealed. “Yang, come see!” A blonde head appeared behind her, the girl it belonged to grinning at all of them. 

“Hey, guys, come on in. Weiss is in the back.”

“Tai isn’t home?” Ren asked as they all stepped inside the house. Yang shook her head. 

“No, he’s on another Dust run. We were supposed to go with him, but…”

“Our last raid didn’t go so well.” The other girl finished, stopping to open a door in the back of the house and lead everyone through. It opened onto a small garden, the first piece of greenery Oscar had seen since he had gotten to Mountain Glenn. Slowly, he breathed in the familiar scent of growing things, letting it calm him down. 

“Ruby’s healed up, at least.” Yang said, shrugging. The black-haired girl- who must have been Ruby- nodded. 

“Although let me tell you, the next time I see that Whitley kid-” she scowled.

“Please,” a girl with white hair, who Oscar hadn’t even seen when he came into the garden, interrupted, “please don’t mention him. I don’t need to hear how my brother beat up my girlfriend. I already know he’s a jerk.”

“Sorry, Weiss!” Ruby rushed toward the girl and enveloped her in a hug. “I didn’t mean-”

“I know,” Weiss assured her. “It’s just… weird. Especially since he’s here and not in Atlas.”

“Yeah,” Ruby agreed.

Yang said something that made the group laugh, but Oscar wasn’t listening. He didn’t understand what they were talking about- who on Remnant was Whitley?- but he did understand plants. He bent down to examine a flowerbed. The plants in it were interesting; ferns, lilies and palms with dark, leathery leaves.

“Of course,” he muttered, “they don’t need light to grow.”

The words came out louder than he meant them to, and Oscar looked up as eight faces turned toward him. He stood up hurriedly. 

“Sorry, I don’t think I caught your name,” Weiss said. “Are you new?”

“Oh- um, yeah,” Oscar said. “I’m Oscar Pine.”

“Nice to meet you!” Ruby said cheerfully. “I’m Ruby, that’s my sister Yang, and that’s my girlfriend Weiss.” 

Oscar nodded to them. “Nice to meet you guys too.”

Ruby turned to team JNPR. “You guys were showing him around?”

Pyrrha nodded. “General Ironwood asked us to give Oscar a tour.”

“Cool,” Yang said. She raised an eyebrow at Oscar. “You know a lot about plants?”

Oscar flushed. “Yeah. I grew up on a farm, so…”

“What happened?” Weiss asked. Oscar blinked.

“Sorry?”

“To your farm,” Weiss elaborated. “Why did you have to flee here?”

“Oh! I’m not a refugee,” Oscar said quickly. “I- um-”

“He’s Ozpin.”

The voice silenced everyone, words hanging in the air as a new man stepped into the garden. Oscar recognized him- Qrow Branwen, the man who had been with General Ironwood the night he’d first come to the rebel headquarters. He looked around, holding the gaze of each and every person. 

“Ozpin?” Ruby asked, her voice small. “The next reincarnation?” Though her words seemed to be directed at Qrow, she stared at Oscar, eyes scanning his face.

Oscar rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s what I’ve been told, yes.”

“Well- this is good, right?” Yang asked. “This fixes everything. Ozpin reincarnates into Oscar and we get the leader you guys always talk about back.”

“That’s not exactly how it works.” Qrow said roughly. “It’ll take him time. That’s why we have to get the process underway now.”

“The process?” Oscar asked, mind filling with all sorts of gruesome images. Whenever people’s souls were changed in books, it never ended well. They always ended up evil or alien or dead or-

Maybe he should read less science fiction. 

“Nothing like that,” Qrow assured him, as if he knew what Oscar was thinking. “It’s painless, and won’t take very long. I’ll explain when we’re there.”

Nora frowned. “I’m assuming this is highly classified and not something you can tell us about?”

Qrow shrugged. “Sorry, kid. You’ll know when you need to.”

Nora looked like she was going to say something else, but Ren pulled her back. Ruby gave Qrow a quick salute. 

“Okay, Uncle Qrow! We’ll see you for dinner!”

Qrow snorted and ruffled Ruby’s hair. “Alright, kiddo. See you then.” He turned and walked back into the house, gesturing for Oscar to follow. Oscar gave the rest of the kids a shy smile and ran to catch up with Qrow, who was already out of the house and halfway down the street.

“You’re her uncle?” he asked. Qrow gave him a half-shrug.

“Technically. Yang’s too.”

Oscar nodded. “Oh. That’s cool.” They continued walking through the streets, winding their way back towards the tallest building under Mountain Glenn: the building which, as far as Oscar could tell, seemed to be their largest base of operations. That was where he had been brought to meet General Ironwood, and that- albeit underground- was where Ozpin lay in a cot, waiting for Oscar to come help him. 

To avoid spinning himself down that rabbithole again, Oscar tried to strike up another conversation with Qrow. 

“So, um, Ruby and Yang were mentioning Dust raids. Have you guys been doing a lot of those?” Qrow nodded, and Oscar waited for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, Oscar asked,

“What happened on Ruby and Yang’s last one? They said Ruby got hurt? By someone named Whitley, I think.”

Qrow surveyed him, one eyebrow raised. “You listen carefully, don't you.”

Oscar flushed. “Yeah, I guess.” Qrow held his gaze for a moment longer before looking ahead again. 

“We were supposed to intercept an SDC Dust shipment. For whatever reason, a group of students from Twilight Academy were there and tried to stop us. One of them was Weiss’s younger brother, Whitley."

“Oh.” Oscar wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Weiss’s brother went to Twilight, and she was a rebel? That must be… awkward. Then something hit him. “Wait. Whitley? Like, Whitley Schnee Whitley?”

Qrow nodded. Oscar shook his head in disbelief. “But- I thought he was an only child.”

“That’s what they want people to think,” Qrow answered. “The official story is that Weiss and her older sister, Winter, died seven years ago, but they might as well never have existed. No one, and I mean no one, talks about them.”

“That’s terrible,” Oscar said. Qrow shrugged.   
“It’s what they chose.”

That effectively ended the conversation, Qrow and Oscar continuing the rest of the way in silence. It was only in the elevator, on their way down to Ozpin’s room, that Qrow spoke again. 

“Hey, kid.” Oscar turned to him, and Qrow rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen. I know this must be really weird for you and all, so I just wanted to say that it’s okay if you’re not ready. You can always take more time.” He huffed a laugh. “James won’t be happy, but if you need it, you can. Okay?”

“Okay.” Oscar said. He guessed that made things easier- except it didn’t, not really. If he did say he wasn’t ready, he’d be letting down the entire rebellion. But how could he take this on?

The elevator dinged, alerting them that they were reaching Ozpin’s floor. Oscar put on a brave face and the doors opened. 

* * *

Oscar stared at the rectangular, silvery-white machine and gulped. Damnit if this day wasn’t moving ridiculously fast. He’d arrived in Mountain Glenn the night before, and now?

Now he was going to lie in that machine, receive an old man’s soul, and lead an army of rebels across Remnant. 

Or so said Glynda Goodwitch. Oscar wasn’t so sure about the ‘leading an army’ part. Or the ‘receiving an old man’s soul’ part. 

Or the ‘lying in that machine’ part, honestly. That thing looked way too high-tech. 

A burst of purple caught his eye. Ozpin was being lifted out of his cot, seemingly by nothing but a shimmer of purple sparks. Oscar turned to see Special Operative Goodwitch pointing her riding crop at the man, eyes narrowed over her small glasses. Oscar’s eyes went wide. 

_Whoa. Telekinesis?_

Goodwitch settled Ozpin in on part of the machine, the glass front closing over him in a way that was eerily quiet. General Ironwood stepped forward, laying a hand on Oscar’s shoulder and pushing him toward the other compartment. 

_Well. Here we go then._  
Slowly, Oscar stepped into it and turned to face the three adults in the room before him. Ironwood was stone-faced, impassive to the point of no return. Goodwitch tucked her riding crop behind her back, face calm and eyes fixed on the keypad of the aura-transfer device. Qrow, however, was staring straight at Oscar, eyebrows raised the slightest bit. 

“Are you ready?” General Ironwood asked. Not trusting himself to speak, Oscar nodded.

Goodwitch sighed. “We- need to hear you say it.”

_Yes._ Oscar thought. _Yes. Say yes. You can’t let them down. Say_ yes. 

But what came out of his mouth was something else entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! There's Oscar- we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future. JNPR, too. 
> 
> As I mentioned before, I'm taking a two-to-three week hiatus to get the first few chapters of Volume Two in order. Thank you to everyone who's read this!


End file.
